Coulomb drag between one-dimensional Wigner crystal rings

Abstract

We consider the Coulomb drag between two metal rings in which the long-range Coulomb interaction leads to the formation of a Wigner crystal. The first ring is threaded by an Aharanov–Bohm flux, creating a persistent current J0. The second ring is brought into close proximity to the first and due to the Coulomb interaction between the two rings a drag current JD is produced in the second. We investigate this system at zero temperature for perfect rings as well as the effects of impurities. We show that the Wigner crystal state can in principle lead to a higher ratio of drag current to drive current JD/J0 than in weakly interacting electron systems.