English

Josephson current through a single Anderson impurity coupled to BCS leads

Strongly Correlated Electrons 2009-11-13 v2 Superconductivity

Abstract

We investigate the Josephson current J(\phi) through a quantum dot embedded between two superconductors showing a phase difference \phi. The system is modeled as a single Anderson impurity coupled to BCS leads, and the functional and the numerical renormalization group frameworks are employed to treat the local Coulomb interaction U. We reestablish the picture of a quantum phase transition occurring if the ratio between the Kondo temperature T_K and the superconducting energy gap \Delta or, at appropriate T_K/\Delta, the phase difference \phi or the impurity energy is varied. We present accurate zero- as well as finite-temperature T data for the current itself, thereby settling a dispute raised about its magnitude. For small to intermediate U and at T=0 the truncated functional renormalization group is demonstrated to produce reliable results without the need to implement demanding numerics. It thus provides a tool to extract characteristics from experimental current-voltage measurements.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0711.0671,
  title  = {Josephson current through a single Anderson impurity coupled to BCS leads},
  author = {C. Karrasch and A. Oguri and V. Meden},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0711.0671},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

version accepted for publication in PRB

R2 v1 2026-06-21T09:39:56.012Z