Does the attractive Hubbard model support larger persistent currents than the repulsive one ?

Abstract

We consider a one-dimensional Hubbard model in the presence of disorder. We compute the charge stiffness for a mesoscopic ring, as a function of the size $L$, which is a measure of the permanent currents. We find that for finite disorder the permanent currents of the system with repulsive interactions are larger than those of the system with attractive interactions. This counter intuitive result is due to the fact that local density fluctuations are reduced in the presence of repulsive interactions.