Dephasing from electron fractionalization

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that electron-electron interactions in one-dimensional Luttinger liquids cause dephasing of Aharonov-Bohm oscillations, with dephasing time directly linked to electron fractionalization time.

Contribution

It provides an exact calculation showing that interactions induce dephasing in 1D systems, connecting fractionalization to observable interference attenuation.

Findings

Interactions cause visible attenuation of Aharonov-Bohm oscillations.

Dephasing time equals electron fractionalization time.

Exact Luttinger theory calculation confirms the mechanism.

Abstract

We investigate the dephasing of mesoscopic interferences by electron-electron interactions in a strictly one-dimensional geometry composed of two weakly-coupled (clean and very long) Luttinger liquids. The main goal of this paper is to demonstrate that interactions in one dimension can produce a visible attenuation of Aharonov-Bohm oscillations. Through a Nyquist noise type description of the interactions and a direct (exact) calculation based on the Luttinger theory, in our setup we firmly emphasize that the dephasing time results from the electron fractionalization time.