Description

2011/05/30,  Prof. George Japaridze, Institute of Physics, Tbilisi, Georgia
Place:  Sala de Seminarios del Departamento de Física Teórica e Historia de la Ciencia
Time: 12h
Title: Charge and spin dynamics in quantum wires
Abstract
We analyze the dynamics of charge and spin degrees of freedom in a quantum wire with spin-orbit (SO) coupling. We show that modulation of the SO coupling drives a transition from a metallic to an insulating state when the period of the modulation becomes commensurate with the Fermi wavelength of the electrons in the wire. We also analyze the dynamics of the helical modes in the presence of a spatially nonuniform SO interaction and strong electron-electron correlations. Here a randomly fluctuating Rashba SO coupling opens a scattering channel which causes localization of the edge modes. Implications for experiments on topological insulators will be discussed.