title: Zero-point fluctuations and the quenching of the persistent current in normal metal rings
abstract: The ground state of a phase-coherent mesoscopic system is sensitive to its environment. We investigate the persistent current of a ring with a quantum dot which is capacitively coupled to an external circuit with a dissipative impedance. At zero temperature, zero-point quantum fluctuations lead to a strong suppression of the persistent current with decreasing external impedance. We emphasize the role of displacement currents in the dynamical fluctuations of the persistent current and show that with decreasing external impedance the fluctuations exceed the average persistent current.
authors.affiliation: Departement de Physique Theorique, Universite de Geneve, 24, quai Ernest Ansermet, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland.
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cedraschi
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Ponomarenko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buttiker