Anomalous Density of States of a Luttinger Liquid in Contact with a Superconductor

Off-diagonal Bethe ansatz and exact solution of a topological spin ring

A general method is proposed for constructing the Bethe ansatz equations of integrable models without U(1) symmetry. As an example, the exact spectrum of the XXZ spin ring with a Möbius-like topological boundary condition is derived by constructing a modified T-Q relation based on the functional connection between the eigenvalues of the transfer matrix and the quantum determinant of the monodromy matrix. With the exact solution, the elementary excitations of the topological XX spin ring are discussed in detail. It is found that the excitation spectrum indeed shows a nontrivial topological nature.

Enhancement of tunneling density of states at a junction of three Luttinger liquid wires

We study the tunneling density of states (TDOS) for a junction of three Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid wires. We show that there are fixed points which allow for the enhancement of the TDOS, which is unusual for Luttinger liquids. The distance from the junction over which this enhancement occurs is of the order of x=v/(2omega), where v is the plasmon velocity and omega is the bias frequency. Beyond this distance, the TDOS crosses over to the standard bulk value independent of the fixed point describing the junction. This finite range of distances opens up the possibility of experimentally probing the enhancement in each wire individually.

Interaction-induced renormalization of Andreev reflection

We analyze the charge transport between a one-dimensional weakly interacting electron gas and a superconductor within the scaling approach in the basis of scattering states. We derive the renormalization group equations, which fully account for the intrinsic energy dependence due to Andreev reflection. A strong renormalization of the corresponding reflection phase is predicted even for a perfectly transparent metal-superconductor interface. The interaction-induced suppression of the Andreev conductance is shown to be highly sensitive to the normal-state resistance, providing a possible explanation of experiments with carbon-nanotube/superconductor junctions by Morpurgo et al. [Science 286, 263 (1999)].

Suppression of the "Quasiclassical" proximity gap in correlated-metal--superconductor structures

We study the energy and spatial dependence of the local density of states in a superconductor--correlated-metal--superconductor Josephson junction, where the correlated metal is a non-Fermi liquid (described by the Falicov-Kimball model). Many-body correlations are treated with dynamical mean-field theory, extended to inhomogeneous systems. While quasiclassical theories predict a minigap in the spectrum of a disordered Fermi liquid which is proximity-coupled within a mesoscopic junction, we find that increasing electron correlations destroy any minigap that might be opened in the absence of many-body correlations.