Can Kondo-like behavior occur in open quantum dots?

Abstract

We discuss the possibility that a Kondo effect may arise in transport through open quantum dots, in which isolated periodic orbits, accessed by non-classical phase-space tunneling, serve as the localized charge that gives rise to the Kondo behavior. Some support for these ideas is shown to be provided by a simple formulation of the Anderson model, in which we assume the electron interaction strength within the dot to be strongly peaked at specific energies. Using this model, we are able to demonstrate behavior reminiscent of the metal-insulator transition, observed in our experimental studies of open quantum dots and dot arrays. The indication of these experiments appears to be that we enter a regime of many-body transport, which becomes effective once the temperature is lowered such that the discrete density of states of the dot becomes energetically resolved.