Scaling of conductance through quantum dots with magnetic field

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the zero-temperature conductance through a quantum dot varies with magnetic field, using advanced numerical methods and theoretical models, especially in the strong-coupling Kondo regime.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of magnetic field effects on quantum dot conductance using DMRG, NRG, and RPT, with comparisons to Bethe ansatz results, in the strong-coupling limit.

Findings

Conductance decreases with magnetic field for dot occupancy near 1.

Conductance increases with magnetic field for dot occupancy near 0.5 or 1.5.

Excellent agreement between DMRG, NRG+RPT, and Bethe ansatz results in the strong-coupling limit.

Abstract

Using different techniques, and Fermi-liquid relationships, we calculate the variation with applied magnetic field (up to second order) of the zero-temperature equilibrium conductance through a quantum dot described by the impurity Anderson model. We focus on the strong-coupling limit $U \gg \Delta$ where $U$ is the Coulomb repulsion and $\Delta$ is half the resonant-level width, and consider several values of the dot level energy $E_d$, ranging from the Kondo regime $\epsilon_F-E_d \gg \Delta$ to the intermediate-valence regime $\epsilon_F-E_d \sim \Delta$, where $\epsilon_F$ is the Fermi energy. We have mainly used density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) and numerical renormalization group (NRG) combined with renormalized perturbation theory (RPT). Results for the dot occupancy and magnetic susceptibility from DMRG and NRG+RPT are compared with the corresponding Bethe ansatz results for $U \rightarrow \infty$, showing an excellent agreement once $E_d$ is renormalized by a constant Haldane shift. For $U < 3 \Delta$ a simple perturbative approach in $U$ agrees very well with the other methods. The conductance decreases with applied magnetic field for dot occupancies $n_d \sim 1$ and increases for $n_d \sim 0.5$ or $n_d \sim 1.5$ regardless of the value of $U$. We also relate the energy scale for the magnetic-field dependence of the conductance with the width of low energy peak in the spectral density of the dot.