The interplay between electron-electron interactions and impurities in one-dimensional rings

Abstract

The persistent current and charge stiffness of a one-dimensional Luttinger liquid on a ring threaded by a magnetic flux are calculated by Monte Carlo simulation. By changing the random impurity potential strength and the electron-electron interaction, we see a crossover behavior between weak and strong impurity limits. For weak impurity potentials, interactions enhance impurity effects, that is, interactions decrease the current and the stiffness. On the other hand, interactions tend to screen impurities when the impurity potential is strong. Temperature dependence of the persistent current and the charge stiffness shows a peak at a characteristic temperature, consistent with a recent single impurity study.