Detection of topological transitions by transport through molecules and nanodevices.
We analyze the phase transitions of an interacting electronic system weakly coupled to free-electron leads by considering its zero-bias conductance. This is expressed in terms of two effective impurity models for the cases with and without spin degeneracy. Using the half-filled ionic Hubbard ring, we demonstrate that the weight of the first conductance peak as a function of external flux or of the difference in gate voltages between even and odd sites allows one to identify the topological charge transition between a correlated insulator and a band insulator.
Centro Atómico Bariloche and Instituto Balseiro, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina.
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AA
Aligia
K
K
Hallberg
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B
Normand
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AP
Kampf