Smoluchowski equation approach for quantum Brownian motion in a tilted periodic potential

A Review of X-ray Microcalorimeters Based on Superconducting Transition Edge Sensors for Astrophysics and Particle Physics

The state-of-the-art technology of X-ray microcalorimeters based on superconducting transition-edge sensors (TESs), for applications in astrophysics and particle physics, is reviewed. We will show the advance in understanding the detector physics and describe the recent breakthroughs in the TES design that are opening the way towards the fabrication and the read-out of very large arrays of pixels with unprecedented energy resolution. The most challenging low temperature instruments for space- and ground-base experiments will be described.

A model for excess Johnson noise in superconducting transition-edge sensors

Transition-edge sensors (TESs) are two-dimensional superconducting films utilized as highly sensitive detectors of energy or power. These detectors are voltage biased in the superconducting-normal transition where the film resistance is both finite and a strong function of temperature. Unfortunately, the amount of electrical noise observed in TESs exceeds the predictions of existing noise theories. We describe a possible mechanism for the unexplained excess noise, which we term "mixed-down noise." The source is Johnson noise, which is mixed down to low frequencies by Josephson oscillations in devices with a nonlinear current-voltage relationship. We derive an expression for the power spectral density of this noise and show that its predictions agree with measured data.

Diffusion and mobility of anisotropic particles in tilted periodic structures

We numerically investigated the transport of anisotropic particles in tilted periodic structures. The diffusion and mobility of the particles demonstrate distinct behaviors dependence on the shape of the particles. In two-dimensional (2D) periodic potentials, we find that the mobility is influenced a little by the anisotropy of the particle, while the diffusion increases monotonically with the increasing of the particle anisotropy for large enough biased force. However, due to the sensitivity of the channels for the particle anisotropy, the transport in smooth channels is obviously different from that in energy potentials. The mobility decreases monotonically with the increasing of the particle anisotropy, while the diffusion can be a non-monotonic function of the particle anisotropy with a peak under appropriate biased force.

Escape rate for a quantum particle moving in a time-periodic rapidly oscillating potential: a time-independent approach

We explore, in the quantum regime, the stochastic dynamics of a time-periodic, rapidly oscillating potential (having a characteristic frequency of ω) within the framework of a time-dependent system-reservoir Hamiltonian. We invoke the idea of a quantum gauge transformation in light of the standard Floquet theorem in an attempt to construct a Langevin equation (bearing a time-independent effective potential) by employing a systematic perturbative expansion in powers of ω^{-1} using the natural time-scale separation. The time-independent effective potential (corrected to ω^{-2} in leading order) that acts on the slow motion of the driven particle can be employed for trapping. We proceed further to evaluate the rate of escape of the driven particle from the metastable state in the high-temperature limit. We also envisage a resonance phenomena, a true hallmark of the system-reservoir quantization. This development would thus serve as a model template to investigate the trapping mechanism, as well as an appropriate analog to understand the dynamics of a fluctuation-induced escape process from the trap.

Fokker-Planck equation with arbitrary dc and ac fields: continued fraction method

The continued fraction method (CFM) is used to solve the Fokker-Planck equation with arbitrary dc and ac fields. With an appropriate choice of basis functions, the Fokker-Planck equation is converted into a set of linear algebraic equations with short-ranged coupling and then CFM is implemented to obtain numerical solutions with high efficiency. Both a proposed perturbative CFM and the numerically exact matrix CFM are used to study the nonlinear response of driven systems, with their results compared to assess the validity regime of the perturbative approach. The proposed perturbative CFM approach needs scalar quantities only and hence is more efficient within its validity regime. Two nonlinear systems of different nature are used as examples: molecular dipole (rotational Brownian motion) and particle in a periodic potential (translational Brownian motion). The associated full dynamics is presented in the compact form of hysteresis loops. It is observed that as the strength of an AC driving field increases, pronounced nonlinear effects are manifested in the deformation of the hysteresis loops.

Phase induced transport of a Brownian particle in a periodic potential in the presence of an external noise: A semiclassical treatment

We develop, invoking a suitable system-reservoir model, the Langevin equation with a state-dependent dissipation associated with a quantum Brownian particle submerged in a heat bath that offers a state-dependent friction to study the directed motion (by studying the phase-induced current) in the presence of an external noise. We study the phase induced current when both system and bath are subjected to external modulation by the noise and thereby expose the system to two cross-correlated noises. We also demonstrate the well-known fact that two noises remain mutually correlated if they share a common origin. We study the effects of correlation on the current in a periodic potential and envisage that the steady state current increases with increase in the extent of correlation, implying that exercising control on the degree of correlation can enhance the current in a properly designed experiment. To establish our model, we analyze numerically the effect of the external noise on system and bath separately as well as on composition of both.

Current-flux characteristics in mesoscopic non-superconducting rings

We propose four different mechanisms responsible for the paramagnetic or diamagnetic persistent currents in normal metal rings and determine the circumstances for changes of the current from paramagnetic to diamagnetic and vice versa. This might qualitatively reproduce the experimental results of Bluhm et al (2009 Phys. Rev. Lett. 102 136802).

Quantum Smoluchowski equation: a systematic study

The strong-friction regime at low temperatures is analyzed systematically starting from the formally exact path-integral expression for the reduced dynamics. This quantum Smoluchowski regime allows for a type of semiclassical treatment in the inverse friction strength so that higher-order quantum corrections to the original quantum Smoluchowski equation [J. Ankerhold, P. Pechukas, and H. Grabert, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 086802 (2001); J. Ankerhold and H. Grabert, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 119903 (2008)] can be derived. Drift and diffusion coefficients are determined by the equilibrium distribution in position and are directly related to the corresponding action of extremal paths and fluctuations around them. It is shown that the inclusion of higher-order corrections reproduces the quantum enhancement above crossover for the decay rate out of a metastable well exactly.

Semiclassical treatment of a Brownian ratchet using the quantum Smoluchowski equation

Quantum effects in the noninertial Brownian motion of a particle in a one-dimensional ratchet potential are treated in the high temperature and weak bath-particle coupling limit by solving a quantum Smoluchowski equation for the time evolution of the Wigner function in configuration space. In particular, an analytical expression for the stationary average drift velocity for constant driving forces is presented including quantum corrections to any order in Planck's constant. The corresponding frequency response is determined using continued fractions in both the linear approximation holding for small ac driving amplitude and in the nonlinear regime for arbitrary driving amplitude exhibiting pronounced ac induced frequency dependence of the dc component of the average drift velocity. Moreover, Shapiro steps are apparent in the dc characteristics for strong ac driving just as in the dc current-voltage characteristics of a point Josephson junction.

Quantum Smoluchowski equation for driven systems

We consider a driven quantum harmonic oscillator strongly coupled to a heat bath. Starting from the exact quantum Langevin equation, we use a Green's function approach to determine the corresponding semiclassical equation for the Wigner phase space distribution. In the limit of high friction and high temperature, we apply Brinkman's method to derive the quantum Smoluchowski equation for the probability distribution in position space. We further determine the range of validity of the equation and discuss the special case of a Brownian parametric oscillator.

Quantum effects in the Brownian motion of a particle in a double well potential in the overdamped limit

Quantum effects in the noninertial Brownian motion of a particle in a double well potential are treated via a semiclassical Smoluchowski equation for the time evolution of the reduced Wigner distribution function in configuration space allowing one to evaluate the position correlation function, its characteristic relaxation times, and dynamic susceptibility using matrix continued fractions and finite integral representations in the manner of the classical Smoluchowski equation treatment. Reliable approximate analytic solutions based on the exponential separation of the time scales of the fast intrawell and slow overbarrier relaxation processes are given. Moreover, the effective and the longest relaxation times of the position correlation function yield accurate predictions of both the low and high frequency relaxation behavior. The low frequency part of the dynamic susceptibility associated with the Kramers escape rate behaves as a single Lorentzian with characteristic frequency given by the quantum-mechanical reaction rate solution of the Kramers problem. As a particular example, quantum effects in the stochastic resonance are estimated.