Work

Dynamical signatures of molecular symmetries in nonequilibrium quantum transport

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: Symmetries play a crucial role in ubiquitous systems found in Nature. In this work, we propose an elegant approach to detect symmetries by measuring quantum currents. Our detection scheme relies on initiating the system in an anti-symmetric initial condition, with respect to the symmetric sites, and using a probe that acts like a local noise. Depending on the position of the probe the currents exhibit unique signatures such as a quasi-stationary plateau indicating the presence of metastability and multi-exponential decays in case of multiple symmetries. The signatures are sensitive to the characteristics of the probe and vanish completely when the timescale of the coherent system dynamics is much longer than the timescale of the probe. These results are demonstrated using a 4-site model and an archetypal example of the para-benzene ring and are shown to be robust under a weak disorder.

Source: Scientific Reports

DOI: 10.1038/srep28027

Authors: Juzar Thingna, Daniel Manzano, Jianshu Cao

Institutions: Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Universidad de Granada

Language: English

Topic: Quantum and electron transport phenomena

Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,690

Funders: National Science Foundation, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Junta de Andalucía, Division of Chemistry