Inverse currents in Coulomb-coupled quantum dots

Abstract

The inverse current, i.e., induced current is opposite to applied force, has recentlybeen found in a classical one-dimensional interacting Hamiltonian system [Phys. Rev.Lett. 124, 110607 (2020)]. In this paper, we show that inverse current also exists in quantum system. Based on Coulomb-coupled quantum dots system, we find that inverse current will appear when Coulomb interaction increases. This does not violate the second law of thermodynamics, since entropy reduction caused by inverse current is compensated by entropy increase caused by forward current, which ensure that total entropy increase of the system is always greater than zero.