Fermi liquid theory for the nonequilibrium Kondo effect at low bias voltages

Akira Oguri

Published 2004-12-09, updated 2004-12-27Version 2

In this report, we describe a recent development in a Fermi liquid theory for the Kondo effect in quantum dots under a finite bias voltage $V$. Applying the microscopic theory of Yamada and Yosida to a nonequilibrium steady state, we derive the Ward identities for the Keldysh Green's function, and determine the low-energy behavior of the differential conductance $dI/dV$ exactly up to terms of order $(eV)^2$ for the symmetric Anderson model. These results are deduced from the fact that the Green's function at the impurity site is a functional of a nonequilibrium distribution $f_{\text{eff}}(\omega)$, which at $eV=0$ coincides with the Fermi function. Furthermore, we provide an alternative description of the low-energy properties using a renormalized perturbation theory (RPT). In the nonequilibrium state the unperturbed part of the RPT is determined by the renormalized free quasiparticles, the distribution function of which is given by $f_{\text{eff}}(\omega)$. The residual interaction between the quasiparticles $\widetilde{U}$, which is defined by the full vertex part at zero frequencies, is taken into account by an expansion in the power series of $\widetilde{U}$. We also discuss the application of the RPT to a high-bias region beyond the Fermi-liquid regime.