Many-electron transport in Aharonov-Bohm interferometers: A time-dependent density-functional study

Abstract

We apply time-dependent density-functional theory to study many-electron transport in Aharonov-Bohm interferometers in a non-equilibrium situation. The conductance properties in the system are complex and depend on the enclosed magnetic flux in the interferometer, the number of interacting electrons, and the mutual distance of the transport channels at the points of encounter. Generally, the electron-electron interactions do not suppress the visibility of Aharonov-Bohm oscillations if the interchannel distance - determined by the positioning of the incompressible strips through the external magnetic field - is optimized. However, the interactions also impose an interesting Aharonov-Bohm phase shift with channel distances below or above the optimal one. This effect is combined with suppressed oscillation amplitudes. We analyze these effects within different approximations for the exchange-correlation potential in time-dependent density-functional theory.