Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: We show that correlated two-particle backscattering can induce fractional charge oscillations in a quantum dot built at the edge of a two-dimensional topological insulator by means of magnetic barriers. The result nicely complements recent works where those fractional oscillations were predicted in the strong-coupling regime. Moreover, since by rotating the magnetization of the barriers a fractional charge can be trapped in the dot via the Jackiw-Rebbi mechanism, the system we analyze offers the opportunity to study the interplay between this noninteracting charge fractionalization and the fractionalization due to two-particle backscattering. We demonstrate that the number of fractional oscillations of the charge density depends on the magnetization angle. In fact, a rotating magnetization can add or subtract fractional charges from the dot continuously. Finally, we address the renormalization induced by two-particle backscattering on the spin density, which is characterized by a dominant oscillation with a length twice as large as the charge-density oscillations.
Institutions: University of Würzburg, University of Luxembourg
Language: English
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Awards: G2158694287, G4117425174
OpenAlex ID: W2575114542