Signature of Generalized Gibbs Ensemble Deviation from Equilibrium: Negative Absorption Induced by a Local Quench.

When a parameter quench is performed in an isolated quantum system with a complete set of constants of motion, its out of equilibrium dynamics is considered to be well captured by the Generalized Gibbs Ensemble (GGE), characterized by a set {λα} of coefficients related to the constants of motion. We determine the most elementary GGE deviation from the equilibrium distribution that leads to detectable effects. By quenching a suitable local attractive potential in a one-dimensional electron system, the resulting GGE differs from equilibrium by only one single λα, corresponding to the emergence of an only partially occupied bound state lying below a fully occupied continuum of states. The effect is shown to induce optical gain, i.e., a negative peak in the absorption spectrum, indicating the stimulated emission of radiation, enabling one to identify GGE signatures in fermionic systems through optical measurements. We discuss the implementation in realistic setups.

Phonon-induced backscattering in helical edge states.

A single pair of helical edge states as realized at the boundary of a quantum spin Hall insulator is known to be robust against elastic single particle backscattering as long as time reversal symmetry is preserved. However, there is no symmetry preventing inelastic backscattering as brought about by phonons in the presence of Rashba spin orbit coupling. In this Letter, we show that the quantized conductivity of a single channel of helical Dirac electrons is protected even against this inelastic mechanism to leading order. We further demonstrate that this result remains valid when Coulomb interaction is included in the framework of a helical Tomonaga Luttinger liquid.

Blockade and counterflow supercurrent in exciton-condensate Josephson junctions.

We demonstrate that perfect conversion between charged supercurrents in superconductors and neutral supercurrents in electron-hole pair condensates is possible via a new Andreev-like scattering mechanism. As a result, when two superconducting circuits are coupled through a bilayer exciton condensate, the superflow in both layers is drastically modified. Depending on the phase biases the supercurrents can be completely blocked or exhibit perfect drag.

Appearance of fractional charge in the noise of nonchiral Luttinger liquids.

The current noise of a voltage biased interacting quantum wire adiabatically connected to metallic leads is computed in the presence of an impurity in the wire. We find that in the weak backscattering limit the Fano factor characterizing the ratio between noise and backscattered current crucially depends on the noise frequency omega relative to the ballistic frequency vF/gL, where vF is the Fermi velocity, g is the Luttinger liquid interaction parameter, and L is the length of the wire. In contrast to chiral Luttinger liquids the noise is not only due to the Poissonian backscattering of fractionally charged quasiparticles at the impurity, but it also depends on Andreev-type reflections at the contacts, so that the frequency dependence of the noise needs to be analyzed to extract the fractional charge e*=eg of the bulk excitations.

Oscillatory nonlinear conductance of an interacting quantum wire with an impurity.

The nonlinear conductance of a one-dimensional quantum wire adiabatically coupled to Fermi liquid electron reservoirs is determined in the presence of an impurity. We show that electron-electron interaction in connection with the finite length of the wire leads to characteristic oscillations in the current as a function of the applied voltage.