Density-functional theory of interacting electrons in inhomogeneous quantum wires

ORAL

Abstract

Motivated by the experimental evidence of electron localization in cleaved edge overgrowth quantum wires and by the recent interest in the development of density-functional schemes for inhomogeneous Luttinger and Luther-Emery liquids, we present a novel density-functional study of a few interacting electrons confined by power-law external potentials into a short portion of a thin quantum wire. The theory employs the quasi-one-dimensional (Q$1D$) homogeneous electron liquid as the reference system and transfers the appropriate Q$1D$ ground-state correlations to the confined inhomogeneous system through a suitable local-density approximation (LDA) to the exchange and correlation energy functional. The LDA describes accurately ``liquid-like'' phases at weak coupling but fails in describing the emergence of ``Wigner molecules'' at strong coupling. A local spin-density approximation allowing for the formation of antiferromagnetic quasi-order with increasing coupling strength is proposed as a first step to overcome this problem.

Authors

  • Saeed H. Abedinpour

    NEST-CNR-INFM and Scuola Normale Superiore, I-56126 Pisa, Italy

  • Marco Polini

    Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, NEST-CNR-INFM and Scuola Normale Superiore, I-56126 Pisa, Italy

  • Gao Xianlong

    NEST-CNR-INFM and Scuola Normale Superiore, I-56126 Pisa, Italy

  • Mario P. Tosi

    NEST-CNR-INFM and Scuola Normale Superiore, I-56126 Pisa, Italy