Aharonov-Bohm magnetization of mesoscopic rings caused by inelastic relaxation

TL;DR

This paper investigates how non-equilibrium conditions induce Aharonov-Bohm magnetization in mesoscopic rings, revealing both thermodynamic and kinetic contributions driven by electron-electron interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a new kinetic contribution to magnetization that appears only out of equilibrium, expanding understanding of electron interactions in mesoscopic systems.

Findings

Thermodynamic current generalizes equilibrium persistent current.

Kinetic current is present only out of equilibrium.

Kinetic current exhibits distinct temperature and magnetic field dependence.

Abstract

The magnetization of a system of many mesoscopic rings under non-equilibrium conditions is considered. The corresponding disorder-averaged current in a ring is shown to be a sum of the `thermodynamic' and `kinetic' contributions both resulting from the electron-electron interaction. The thermodynamic part can be expressed through the diagonal matrix elements of the current operator in the basis of exact many-body eigenstates and is a generalization of the equilibrium persistent current. The novel kinetic part is present only out of equilibrium and is governed by the off-diagonal matrix elements. It has drastically different temperature and magnetic field behavior.