This book is a snapshot of the vision shared by outstanding scientists on the key theoretical and experimental issues in Mesoscopic Physics. Quantum properties of electrons in solid state devices and transport in semiconducting and superconducting low-dimensional systems, are discussed, as well as the basis of quantum computing (entanglement, noise decoherence and read-out). Each chapter collects the material presented at a Varenna School course of last year, by leading experts in the field. The reader gets a flavor, how theorists and experimentalists are paving the way to the physical realization of solid state qubits, the basic units of the new logic and memory elements for quantum processing. He will be surprised in finding that mesoscopic solid state devices, which were invented just yesterday ( think of the Single Electron Transistor, or the Cooper Pair Box) are currently used as charge-sensing applications in the equipment of frontier research laboratories. These devices contribute as probing systems to produce evidence on still unsettled questions in topics like the metal-insulator transition in disordered two dimensional systems, quantum Hall conductance in heterostructures, or Kondo conductance in quantum dots.

The quantum phenomena of tunneling and interference show up not only in the microscopic world of atoms and molecules, but also in cold materials of the real world, such as metals and semiconductors. Though not fully macroscopic, such mesoscopic systems contain a huge number of particles, and the holistic nature of quantum mechanics becomes evident already in simple electronic measurements. The measured quantity fluctuates as a function of applied fields in an unpredictable, yet reproducible way. Despite this fingerprint character of fluctuations, their statistical properties are universal, i.e. they are the same for a large class of different mesoscopic systems, having only very few parameters in common. Localization of electrons is a dramatic effect of destructive interference. As a consequence a metal can become an insulator while reaching mesoscopic scales. Based on elementary quantum and statistical physics, this text introduces the theory of mesoscopic electron systems. It focuses on universal characteristics of fluctuations and on the localization mechanism. General concepts and methods are stressed, such as scaling laws for distribution functions. Tools from condensed matter theory are used flexibly. Involved technical details are skipped so as to present a broad overview of the field, including topics like quantum dots, the quantum Hall effect and a number of the most recent developments. Contents: Experimental Facts; Basic Theoretical Models and Tools; Idealized Systems; Towards Realistic Systems; The Localization-Delocalization Transition. Readership: Condensed matter and theoretical physicists.

Mesoscopic physics deals with systems larger than single atoms but small enough to retain their quantum properties. The possibility to create and manipulate conductors of the nanometer scale has given birth to a set of phenomena that have revolutionized physics: quantum Hall effects, persistent currents, weak localization, Coulomb blockade, etc. This Special Issue tackles the latest developments in the field. Contributors discuss time-dependent transport, quantum pumping, nanoscale heat engines and motors, molecular junctions, electron–electron correlations in confined systems, quantum thermo-electrics and current fluctuations. The works included herein represent an up-to-date account of exciting research with a broad impact in both fundamental and applied topics.

Quantum mechanics was initially constructed to describe objects on atomic and subatomic scales. However, in the last decades, quantum mechanics has been revisited and its use extended to the study and description of macroscopic distinct states. This is accomplished by modeling basic objects of mesoscopic physics, such as superconducting quantum circuits and low-dimensional structures derived from a two-dimensional electronic gas. In recent years, these devices support the study of fundamental systems such as a two-level quantum system, or qubit, as an object for manipulations and applications. This book will provide an introduction to quantum computation and quantum information, based on quantum physics, solid-state theory, and theory of computing. We will become familiar with this important field and explore how it is inseparably linked to basic notions of physics such as superposition, entanglement, and quantum dynamics. Then we will consider superconducting and mesoscopic systems, as well as a series of phenomena, where important are the spectra quantization, interference, and charge discreteness.This book derives its content from a lecture course designed for graduate students and postdocs who are acquainted with quantum mechanics and statistical physics. In particular, it was developed together with the lecture series taught to 5th year students of the Department of Physics and Technology in V N Karazin Kharkiv National University.

This text presents the statistical theory of wave scattering and quantum transport in complex - chaotic and disordered - systems.

This volume contains the proceedings of the Fourteenth Thniguchi Symposium on the Theory of Condensed Matter, which was held from November 10 to 14, 1991, at the Shima Kanko Hotel, Shima, Japan. The topic of the symposium was Physics 0/ Mesoscopic Systems. Mesoscopic systems have been developed band in band with the recent progress in nanotechnology and are the melting pot of basic science and technology. In nanostructures, the quantum effect of the electron wave manifests itself because of the limited dimensionality of the structure. The most typical features of these structures are the discreteness of the energy spectrum and the interference effect of electron waves, which have led to various fascinating phenomena. The purpose of this symposium was to discuss the latest developments in mesoscopic systems, especially transport phenomena, from the viewpoint of basic physics. This volume starts with an introduction to the field of mesoscopic systems together with the paper by Prof. R. Kubo, who was the first to note the existence of particular features of discrete energy levels in small metallic particles. In Part II the electronic states of quantum dots and the conductance through them are discussed. Tunneling via small structures and junctions is studied in Part ill.