Persistent current in a one-dimensional ring of fractionally charged "exclusons''

TL;DR

This paper investigates the Aharonov-Bohm effect in a 1D ring with fractionally charged excitations, predicting temperature-dependent oscillations of persistent current due to fractional quasiparticle charge.

Contribution

It demonstrates that low temperature behavior mimics free electrons with integer charge, despite fractional charge, and predicts anomalous current oscillations as a signature of fractionalization.

Findings

Persistent current behavior matches that of electrons with charge e at low temperatures.

Anomalous oscillations of persistent current amplitude with temperature are predicted.

A potential experimental setup with a gated 1D ring is proposed for observing these effects.

Abstract

The Aharonov-Bohm effect in a one-dimensional (1D) ring containing a gas of fractionally charged excitations is considered. It is shown that the low temperature behavior of the system is identical to that of free electrons with (integer) charge $e$. This is a direct consequence of the fact that the total charge in the ring is quantized in units of the electron charge. Anomalous oscillations of the persistent current amplitude with temperature are predicted to occur as a direct manifistation of the fractional nature of the quasiparticle charge. A 1D conducting ring with gate induced periodical potential is discussed as a possible set-up for an experimental observation of the predicted phenomenon.