Rectification in nonequilibrium steady states of open many-body systems

Abstract

We study how translationally invariant couplings of many-body systems and nonequilibrium baths can be used to rectify particle currents. We propose novel setups to realize bath-induced currents in nonequilibrium steady states of one-dimensional open fermionic systems. We first analyze dissipative dynamics associated with a nonreciprocal Lindblad operator and identify a class of Lindblad operators that are sufficient to acquire a nonreciprocal current. Remarkably, we show that rectification can in general occur even when a Lindblad operator is reciprocal provided that the inversion symmetry and the time-reversal symmetry of the microscopic Hamiltonian are broken. We demonstrate this new mechanism on the basis of both analytical and numerical approaches including the Rashba spin-orbit coupling and the Zeeman magnetic field. Our findings will play fundamental roles for exploring rectification phenomena in homogeneous open many-body systems.