Abstract-Magnetic-field-controlled vacuum charge in graphene quantum dots with a mass gap

P. A. Maksym 
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom

H. Aoki 
Department of Physics,University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan

http://prb.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v88/i8/e081406

The effect of a magnetic field on the charged vacuum is investigated. The field dependence of the energy levels causes jumps in the total vacuum charge that occur whenever an energy level crosses the Fermi level, and this leads to reentrant cycles of vacuum charging and discharging. In atomic systems these effects require astrophysical magnetic fields of around 10⁸ T, but in graphene with a mass gap they occur in laboratory fields of about 1 T or lower. It is suggested that an electrostatic graphene quantum dot defined by a gate electrode provides a solid state model of the as yet unobserved charged vacuum as well as a model of an atomic system in an extreme astrophysical environment. Phase diagrams are computed to show how the total vacuum charge depends on the confining potential strength and applied magnetic field. The vacuum charge density is also investigated and experimental consequences are discussed.