Many-body effects in a quasi-one-dimensional electron gas

TL;DR

This study explores how electron interactions and external magnetic fields influence the ground state and energy levels in a quasi-one-dimensional electron gas, revealing controllable many-body effects in quantum wires.

Contribution

It demonstrates how confinement potential and magnetic fields can manipulate electron configurations and energy levels in quasi-1D systems, advancing understanding of many-body interactions.

Findings

Double-row to single-row transition under magnetic field

Level reordering driven by electron occupation

Manipulation of energy levels via confinement and electron concentration

Abstract

We have investigated electron transport in a quasi-one dimensional (quasi-1D) electron gas as a function of the confinement potential. At a particular potential configuration, and electron concentration, the ground state of a 1D quantum wire splits into two rows to form an incipient Wigner lattice. It was found that application of a transverse magnetic field can transform a double-row electron configuration into a single-row due to magnetic enhancement of the confinement potential. The movements of the energy levels have been monitored under varying conditions of confinement potential and in-plane magnetic field. It is also shown that when the confinement is weak, electron occupation drives a reordering of the levels such that the normal ground state passes through the higher levels. The results show that the levels can be manipulated by utilising their different dependence on spatial confinement and electron concentration, thus enhancing the understanding of many body interactions in mesoscopic 1D quantum wires.