Model and Energy Bounds for a Two-Dimensional System of Electrons Localized in Concentric Rings

Abstract

We study a two-dimensional system of interacting electrons confined in equidistant planar circular rings. The electrons are considered spinless and each of them is localized in one ring. While confined to such ring orbits, each electron interacts with the remaining ones by means of a standard Coulomb interaction potential. The classical version of this two-dimensional quantum model can be viewed as representing a system of electrons orbiting planar equidistant concentric rings where the kinetic energy may be discarded when one is searching for the lowest possible energy. Within this framework, the lowest possible energy of the system is the one that minimizes the total Coulomb interaction energy. This is the equilibrium energy that is numerically determined with high accuracy by using the simulated annealing method. This process allows us to obtain both the equilibrium energy and position configuration for different system sizes. The adopted semi-classical approach allows us to provide reliable approximations for the quantum ground state energy of the corresponding quantum system. The model considered in this work represents an interesting problem for studies of low-dimensional systems, with echoes that resonate with developments in nanoscience and nanomaterials.

Keywords

• nanoscience
• nanotechnology
• quantum systems
• concentric rings
• semi-classical approximation
• energy bounds