Persistent current and the existence of a metallic phase flanked by two insulating phases in a quantum ring with both electron–electron and electron–phonon interactions

Abstract

The persistent current in the ground state of a quantum ring threaded by a magnetic flux is calculated within the framework of the Holstein-Hubbard model. It is found that the persistent current is suppressed by both the electron–electron and electron–phonon interactions. Calculation of Drude weight reveals that the persistent current is diamagnetic in nature. It is observed that as the number of atoms in the quantum ring increases, the persistent current decays in a continuous way. It is finally predicted that there exists an intervening metallic phase flanked in real time by two insulating phases, the SDW phase and the CDW phase.