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Joachim Ankerhold

Publications and source records attributed to Joachim Ankerhold.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

How to detect the fourth-order cumulant of electrical noise.

It is proposed to measure the current noise generated in a mesoscopic conductor by macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) in a current biased Josephson junction placed in parallel to the conductor. The theoretical description of this setup takes into account the complete dynamics of detector and noise source. Explicit results are given for the specific case of current fluctuations in an oxide layer tunnel junction, and it is shown how the device allows to extract the fourth-order cumulant of the noise from the MQT data for realistic experimental parameters.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Path-integral Monte Carlo simulations for electronic dynamics on molecular chains. II. Transport across impurities.

Electron transfer (ET) across molecular chains including an impurity is studied based on a recently improved real-time path-integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) approach [L. Mühlbacher, J. Ankerhold, and C. Escher, J. Chem. Phys. 121 12696 (2004)]. The reduced electronic dynamics is studied for various bridge lengths and defect site energies. By determining intersite hopping rates from PIMC simulations up to moderate times, the relaxation process in the extreme long-time limit is captured within a sequential transfer model. The total transfer rate is extracted and shown to be enhanced for certain defect site energies. Super-exchange turns out to be relevant for extreme gap energies only and then gives rise to different dynamical signatures for high- and low-lying defects. Further, it is revealed that the entire bridge compound approaches a steady state on a much shorter time scale than that related to the total transfer. This allows for a simplified description of ET along donor-bridge-acceptor systems in the long-time range.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Quantum Brownian motion with large friction.

Quantum Brownian motion in the strong friction limit is studied based on the exact path integral formulation of dissipative systems. In this limit the time-nonlocal reduced dynamics can be cast into an effective equation of motion, the quantum Smoluchowski equation. For strongly condensed phase environments it plays a similar role as master equations in the weak coupling range. Applications for chemical, mesoscopic, and soft matter systems are discussed and reveal the substantial role of quantum fluctuations.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed2004

Path-integral Monte Carlo simulations for electronic dynamics on molecular chains. I. Sequential hopping and super exchange.

An improved real-time quantum Monte Carlo procedure is presented and applied to describe the electronic transfer dynamics along molecular chains. The model consists of discrete electronic sites coupled to a thermal environment which is integrated out exactly within the path integral formulation. The approach is numerically exact and its results reduce to known analytical findings (Marcus theory, golden rule) in proper limits. Special attention is paid to the role of superexchange and sequential hopping at lower temperatures in symmetric donor-bridge-acceptor systems. In contrast to previous approximate studies, superexchange turns out to play a significant role only for extremely high-lying bridges where the transfer is basically frozen or for extremely low temperatures where for weaker dissipation a description in terms of rate constants is no longer feasible. For bridges with increasing length an algebraic decrease of the yield is found for short as well as for long bridges. The approach can be extended to electronic systems with more complicated topologies including impurities and in presence of external time-dependent forces.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Low temperature electron transfer in strongly condensed phase.

Electron transfer coupled to a collective vibronic degree of freedom is studied in strongly condensed phase and at lower temperatures where quantum fluctuations are essential. Based on an exact representation of the reduced density matrix of the electronic + reaction coordinate compound in terms of path integrals, recent findings on the overdamped limit in quantum dissipative systems are employed. This allows us to give a consistent generalization of the well-known Zusman equations to the quantum domain. Detailed conditions for the range of validity are specified. Using the Wigner transform these results are also extended to the quantum dynamics in full phase space. As an important application electronic transfer rates are derived that comprise adiabatic and nonadiabatic processes in the low temperature regime including nuclear tunneling. Accurate agreement with precise quantum Monte Carlo data is observed.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Enhancement of macroscopic quantum tunneling by Landau-Zener transitions.

Motivated by recent realizations of qubits with a readout by macroscopic quantum tunneling in a Josephson junction, we study the problem of barrier penetration in the presence of coupling to a spin-1 / 2 system. It is shown that, when the diabatic potentials for fixed spin intersect in the barrier region, Landau-Zener transitions lead to an enhancement of the tunneling rate. The effect of these spin flips in imaginary time is in qualitative agreement with experimental observations.

Journal Article↗