Quantum Dots a Doorway to Nanoscale Physics [Hardcover]

Quantum dots, sometimes called artificial atoms, are exquisite tools by which quantum behavior can be probed on a larger scale than the atomic, namely on the nanometer scale. While the physics exhibited by these devices is closer to classical than atomic physics, quantum dots are still sufficiently small to clearly exhibit quantum phenomena. This volume, intended for graduate students and young researchers, offers an introduction to many of these fascinating aspects. In the first lecture, R. Shankar treats the general theoretical aspects of Fermi liquids, in particular the renormalization group approach, and then applies this to large quantum dots. A completely different approach is encountered in the second contribution, by J.M. Elzerman et al., which thoroughly details current and likely experimental developments in the study of small quantum dots. Here the emphasis lies on the electron spin which is to be used as a qubit. In the third lecture series, by M. Pustilnik and Leonid I. Glazman, mechanisms of low-temperature electronic transport through a quantum dot -- weakly coupled to two conducting leads -- are reviewed. The fourth and final lecture series, by C.W.J. Beenakker, deals with a peculiar property of superconducting mirrors, a very interesting aspect of nanophysics discovered by Andreev about forty years ago and still a challenge to experimental physicists.

Quantum dots, often denoted artificial atoms, are the exquisite tools by which quantum behavior can be probed on a scale appreciably larger than the atomic scale, that is on the nanometer scale. In this way, the physics of the devices is closer to classical physics than that of atomic physics but they are still sufficiently small to clearly exhibit quantum phenomena. The present volume is devoted to an introduction to some of these fascinating aspects, addressing in particular graduate students and young researchers in the field. In the first lecture by R. Shankar, the generalÓ