text:
# Untitled Document

Addendum to “Defects for ample divisors of abelian varieties,

Schwarz lemma, and hyperbolic hypersurfaces of low degrees,”

Amerian Journal of Mathematics 119 (1997), 1139-1172

Yum-Tong Siu and Sai-Kee Yeung 111Both authors partially supported by grants from the National Science Foundation.

This addendum was submitted to the American Journal of Mathematics on June 6, 2000. On the same day a copy was sent to J. Noguchi who first drew our attention to a gap in our original paper. After three months of queries by e-mail, J. Noguchi informed the first author by e-mail on August 28, 2000 that he finally understood the arguments. This addendum is made available on the web at this time, because it has not yet appeared in a journal and is quoted in some recent papers of the first author. Moreover, from some public lectures a number of people had the wrong impression of the nature of the gap and did not know that it means only an easy modification of our original paper.

J. Noguchi, J. Winkelmann, and K. Yamanoi \[NWY99\] drew our attention to a difficulty in the proof of Lemma 2 of the paper in the title, which might arise when the projection of the space $`J_k(D)`$ of $`k`$-jets of the ample divisor $`D`$ of the $`n`$-dimensional abelian variety $`A`$ completely contains $`W_k`$, where $`W_k𝐂^{nk}`$ is the algebraic Zariski closure of the image of the differential of the holomorphic map $`f:𝐂A`$. In this addendum we give an easy modification of our argument by using the uniqueness part of the fundamental theorem of ordinary differential equations.

The modification at the same time improves somewhat our result (see Theorem A). For a holomorphic map to an $`n`$-dimensional abelian variety $`A`$ whose image is not contained in a translate of an ample divisor $`D`$, the proximity function to $`D`$ plus the error obtained by truncating multiplicity in the counting function at order $`k_n=k_n(D)`$ is of logarithmic order of the characteristic function of the map, where $`k_n`$ is an explicit function of $`n`$ and the Chern number $`D^n`$.

The difficulty of \[SY97\] resulted from an attempt to use semi-continuity of cohomology groups in deformations to avoid employing Bloch’s technique from \[B26\] which involves the uniqueness part of the fundamental theorem of ordinary differential equations. Here we simply go back to using Bloch’s technique to show that the projection of $`J_k(D)`$ cannot completely contain $`W_k`$ when $`k`$ is at least $`k_n(D)`$.

A sketch of the main idea in the modification given here is as follows. If the local function which defines $`J_{k+1}(D)`$ from $`J_k(D)`$ does not reduce the dimension or the multiplicity of the part of $`J_k(D)`$ over $`W_k`$ at a generic point, there it must locally belong to the ideal generated by local functions defining $`J_k(D)`$ and $`W_k`$. The multiplicity of the part of $`J_k(D)`$ over $`W_k`$ at a generic point admits an effective bound depending on $`D^n`$ and $`k`$. If the projection of $`J_k(D)`$ completely contains $`W_k`$, then the pullback of the defining function for a translate of $`D`$ by $`f`$ satisfies an ordinary differential equation in some open neighborhood of $`0`$ in $`𝐂`$ whose order admits an effective bound depending on $`D^n`$ and $`k`$ and whose coefficients for the highest-order derivative is $`1`$. The uniqueness part of the fundamental theorem of ordinary differential equations yields the contradiction that some translate of $`D`$ must contain the image of $`f`$.

Notations and Terminology. Let $`A`$ be an abelian variety of complex dimension $`n`$. We denote by $`𝒪_A`$ the structure sheaf of $`A`$. We denote by $`J_k(A)=A\times 𝐂^{nk}`$ the space of all $`k`$-jets of $`A`$. We consider only subvarieties of $`J_k(A)=A\times 𝐂^{nk}`$ which are algebraic along the factor $`𝐂^{nk}`$. In other words, they are defined by local functions on $`J_k(A)=A\times 𝐂^{nk}`$ which are holomorphic in the local coordinates of $`A`$ and are polynomials in the $`nk`$ global coordinates of $`𝐂^{nk}`$. Here subvarieties of $`J_k(A)=A\times 𝐂^{nk}`$ are assumed without any further explicit mention to be algebraic along the factor $`𝐂^{nk}`$. Zariski closures are defined using such subvarieties.

The projection $`\pi _k:J_k(A)𝐂^{nk}`$ denotes the natural projection $`J_k(A)=A\times 𝐂^{nk}𝐂^{nk}`$ onto the second factor. For $`\mathrm{}>k`$ let $`p_{k,\mathrm{}}:𝐂^n\mathrm{}𝐂^{nk}`$ denote the natural projection so that $`\pi _k=p_{k,\mathrm{}}\pi _{\mathrm{}}`$.

Let $`D`$ be an ample divisor in $`A`$. We denote by $`\theta _D`$ the theta function on $`𝐂^n`$ whose divisor is $`D`$. The space of $`k`$-jets of $`D`$ is denoted by $`J_k(D)`$.

For a holomorphic map $`f`$ from $`𝐂`$ to $`A`$, let $`W_{k,f}`$ be the (algebraic) Zariski closure of $`\pi _k\left(\text{Im }(d^kf)\right)`$ in $`𝐂^{nk}`$, where $`d^kf:J_k\left(𝐂\right)J_k(A)`$ is the map induced by $`f`$. Clearly, $`p_{k,\mathrm{}}(W_{\mathrm{},f})=W_{k,f}`$ for $`\mathrm{}>k`$. When $`Z_k`$ is a proper subvariety of $`W_{k,f}`$, $`p_{k,\mathrm{}}^1(Z_k)`$ is a proper subvariety of $`W_{\mathrm{},f}`$ for $`\mathrm{}>k`$. Let $`m(r,f,D)`$ denote the proximity function for the map $`f`$ and the divisor $`D`$ at the radius $`r`$. Let $`N_k(r,f,D)`$ be the counting function for the divisor $`D`$ which truncates multiplicity at $`k`$, i.e., with multiplicity replaced by $`k`$ if it is greater than $`k`$. Let $`N(r,f,D)`$ denote the usual counting function for the divisor $`D`$ without any truncation of multiplicity.

Theorem A. Let $`A`$ be an abelian variety of complex dimension $`n`$ and $`D`$ be an ample divisor of $`A`$. Inductively let $`k_0=0`$ and $`k_1=1`$ and

$$k_{\mathrm{}+1}=k_{\mathrm{}}+3^{n\mathrm{}1}\left(4(k+1)\right)^{\mathrm{}}D^n$$

for $`1\mathrm{}<n`$. Then for any holomorphic map $`f:𝐂A`$ whose image is not contained in any translate of $`D`$,

$$\begin{array}{c}\text{ }m(r,f,D)+\left(N(r,f,D)N_{k_n}(r,f,D)\right)=O(\mathrm{log}T(r,f,D)+\mathrm{log}r)||\text{ }\hfill \end{array}$$

when $`||`$ means that the equation holds for $`r`$ outside some set whose measure with respect to $`\frac{dr}{r}`$ is finite.

The rest of this note is devoted to the proof of Theorem A. Our first step is to verify the following claim.

Claim 1. $`\pi _{k_n}(J_{k_n}(D))`$ does not contain $`W_{k_n,f}`$.

Assume that Claim 1 is false and we are going to derive a contradiction.

In order to have an effective bound on the multiplicities of the highest-dimensional branches of

$$\pi _k^1(\gamma )J_k(D)=\pi _k^1(\gamma )\{\theta _D=d\theta _D=\mathrm{}=d^k\theta _D\},$$

we introduce a mermorphic connection for the line bundle $`D`$ so that the covariant differentials of $`\theta _D`$ with respect to the meromorphic connection are line-bundle-valued jet differentials on $`A`$, making it possible to bound the multiplicities by Chern numbers. By Lefschetz’s theorem, $`mD`$ is a very ample line bundle over $`A`$ for $`m3`$. Choose $`\tau _j\mathrm{\Gamma }(A,jD)`$ for $`j=3,4`$ with the property that for $`1kk_n`$ there exists a proper subvariety $`Z_k`$ of $`W_{k,f}`$ such that for $`\gamma _kW_{k,f}Z_k`$ the set $`\{\tau _3\tau _4=0\}J_k(D)\pi _k^1(\gamma _k)`$ is a nowhere dense subvariety of $`J_k(D)\pi _k^1(\gamma _k)`$.

We now define covariant differentials of $`\theta _D`$ by using usual differentials of meromorphic functions after meromorphically trivialize the line bundle $`D`$ by means of $`\tau _3,\tau _4`$. The above condition in the choice of $`\tau _3,\tau _4`$ is to make sure that the additional pole-sets and zero-sets introduced because of the meromorphicity of the connection are irrelevant to our purpose. Let

$$𝒟^k\theta _D=\left(\tau _4\right)^{k+1}d^k\left(\frac{\theta _D\tau _3}{\tau _4}\right)$$

for $`1kk_n`$. Then $`𝒟^k\theta _D`$ is a $`\left(4(k+1)D\right)`$-valued holomorphic $`k`$-jet differential on $`A`$ of weight $`k`$. For $`\mathrm{}k`$ and $`\gamma 𝐂^n\mathrm{}`$ we denote by $`𝒟^k\theta _D,\gamma `$ the element of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(A,4(k+1)D)`$ which is obtained by evaluating $`𝒟^k\theta _D`$ at the element of $`J_k(D)`$ whose image under $`\pi _k`$ is equal to $`p_{k,\mathrm{}}(\gamma )`$.

We use the convention that a set of complex dimension $`1`$ means the empty set.

For $`1\mathrm{}n`$ we introduce the following statement $`(A)_{\mathrm{}}`$ and use the convention that $`(A)_0`$ always holds. Let $`0\mathrm{}_0n`$ be the largest integer inclusively between $`0`$ and $`n`$ such that the following statement $`(A)_{\mathrm{}}`$ holds with $`\mathrm{}=\mathrm{}_0`$.

$`(A)_{\mathrm{}}`$. There exists a proper subvariety $`E_{\mathrm{}}`$ of $`W_{k_{\mathrm{}},f}`$ such that the complex dimension of the common zero-set of

$$\theta _D,𝒟\theta _D,\gamma ,𝒟^2\theta _D,\gamma ,\mathrm{},𝒟^k_{\mathrm{}}\theta _D,\gamma $$

in $`A\left\{\tau _3\tau _4=0\right\}`$ is no more than $`n1\mathrm{}`$ for $`\gamma W_{k_{\mathrm{}},f}E_{\mathrm{}}`$.

We can choose

(i) $`\sigma _0\mathrm{\Gamma }(A,4(k_\mathrm{}_0+1)D)`$ and $`\sigma _j\mathrm{\Gamma }(A,4(k_\mathrm{}_0j)D)`$ for $`1j<k_\mathrm{}_0`$,

(ii) complex numbers $`c_{i,j}`$ for $`1i\mathrm{}_0`$ and $`1jk_\mathrm{}_0`$, and

(iii) a proper subvariety $`\stackrel{~}{E}_\mathrm{}_0`$ of $`W_{k_\mathrm{}_0,f}`$ containing $`E_\mathrm{}_0`$,

such that, when we set $`\sigma _{k_\mathrm{}_0}1`$ and

$$\rho _{i,\gamma }=\underset{j=0}{\overset{k_\mathrm{}_0}{}}c_{i,j}\sigma _j𝒟^j\theta _D,\gamma $$

for $`1i\mathrm{}_0`$ and $`\gamma W_{k_\mathrm{}_0,f}\stackrel{~}{E}_\mathrm{}_0`$, the common zero-set of

$$\rho _{1,\gamma },\mathrm{},\rho _{\mathrm{}_0,\gamma }\mathrm{\Gamma }(A,4(k_\mathrm{}_0+1)D)$$

in $`D\left\{\tau _3\tau _4=0\right\}`$ is a subvariety of pure complex dimension $`n1\mathrm{}_0`$ in $`D`$.

Because of the assumption that $`\pi _{k_n}\left(J_{k_n}(D)\right)`$ contains $`W_{k_n,f}`$, we know that $`\mathrm{}_0<n`$. Let $`\kappa _n=\theta _D`$. We can choose

$$\kappa _1,\mathrm{},\kappa _{n\mathrm{}_01}\mathrm{\Gamma }(A,3D)$$

such that the intersection of the common zero-set of $`\kappa _1,\mathrm{},\kappa _{n\mathrm{}_01}`$ and every $`\mathrm{}_0`$-dimensional branch of the common zero-set of $`\rho _{1,\gamma },\mathrm{},\rho _{\mathrm{}_0,\gamma }`$ in $`D\left\{\tau _3\tau _4=0\right\}`$ is zero-dimensional. Then the sum, over all points $`QA\left\{\tau _3\tau _4=0\right\}`$, of the dimension over $`𝐂`$ of the (vector-space) stalk at $`Q`$ of the sheaf

$$𝒪_A/\left(\underset{j=1}{\overset{n\mathrm{}_0}{}}𝒪_A\kappa _j+\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}_0}{}}𝒪_A\rho _{i,\gamma }\right)$$

is no more than

$$3^{n\mathrm{}_01}\left(4(k_\mathrm{}_0+1)\right)^\mathrm{}_0D^n.$$

Since the above estimates imply that the complex dimension $`d_s`$ of the stalk at $`QD\left\{\tau _3\tau _4=0\right\}`$ of

$$𝒪_A/\left(\underset{j=1}{\overset{n\mathrm{}_0}{}}𝒪_A\kappa _j+\underset{i=1}{\overset{s}{}}𝒪_A𝒟^s\theta _D,\gamma \right)$$

is no more than $`k_{\mathrm{}_0+1}k_\mathrm{}_0`$ for $`\gamma \left(p_{k_\mathrm{}_0,k_{\mathrm{}_0+1}}\right)^1\left(W_{k_\mathrm{}_0,f}\stackrel{~}{E}_\mathrm{}_0\right)`$ and $`k_\mathrm{}_0sk_{\mathrm{}_0+1}`$, it follows that there exists some $`k_\mathrm{}_0<qk_{\mathrm{}_0+1}`$ such that $`d_{q1}=d_q`$. The $`q`$ depends on the choice of $`Q,\gamma ,\kappa _1,\mathrm{},\kappa _{n\mathrm{}_0}`$, but we can make $`q`$ independent of the choice for $`Q`$ in some Zariski open subset of $`D\left\{\tau _3\tau _4=0\right\}`$, for $`(\kappa _1,\mathrm{},\kappa _{n\mathrm{}_01})`$ in some Zariski open subset of the product of $`n\mathrm{}_01`$ copies of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(A,3D)`$, and for $`\gamma `$ in some Zariski open subset of $`\left(p_{k_\mathrm{}_0,k_{\mathrm{}_0+1}}\right)^1\left(W_{k_\mathrm{}_0,f}\stackrel{~}{E}_\mathrm{}_0\right)`$.

Since $`(A)_{\mathrm{}_0+1}`$ does not hold, there exists a proper subvariety $`F_{\mathrm{}_0+1}`$ of $`W_{\mathrm{}_0+1,f}`$ containing $`p_{\mathrm{}_0,\mathrm{}_0+1}^1\left(\stackrel{~}{E}_\mathrm{}_0\right)`$ such that that the complex dimension of the common zero-set of

$$\theta _D,𝒟\theta _D,\gamma ,𝒟^2\theta _D,\gamma ,\mathrm{},𝒟^{k_{\mathrm{}_0+1}}\theta _D,\gamma $$

in $`A\left\{\tau _3\tau _4=0\right\}`$ is $`n1\mathrm{}_0`$ for $`\gamma W_{k_{\mathrm{}_0+1},f}F_{\mathrm{}_0+1}`$. Let $`V_{\mathrm{}_0+1}`$ be the minimum subvariety in $`J_q(D)\pi _q^1\left(W_{q,f}\right)`$ which contains all the branches of dimension $`<n1\mathrm{}_0`$ of $`J_q(D)\pi _q^1(\gamma )`$ for all $`\gamma W_{q,f}`$. Then $`V_{\mathrm{}_0+1}`$ is a proper subvariety of $`J_q(D)\pi _q^1\left(W_{q,f}\right)`$. After replacing $`V_{\mathrm{}_0+1}`$ by a larger proper subvariety of $`J_q(D)\pi _q^1\left(W_{q,f}\right)`$ to take care of the requirement of $`Q,\gamma ,\kappa _1,\mathrm{},\kappa _{n\mathrm{}_01}`$ being in some appropriate Zariski open subsets in the choice of $`q`$ made above, we conclude that the following statement $`(B)_{\mathrm{}}`$ holds with $`\mathrm{}=\mathrm{}_0+1`$.

$`(B)_{\mathrm{}}`$. There exist $`k_\mathrm{}1<qk_{\mathrm{}}`$, a subvariety $`V_{\mathrm{}}`$ of $`J_q(D)\pi _q^1(W_{q,f})`$ containing $`J_q(D)\left\{\tau _3\tau _4=0\right\}`$, and a proper subvariety $`F_{\mathrm{}}`$ of $`W_{q,f}`$, such that

(i) $`\left(J_q(D)V_{\mathrm{}}\right)\pi _q^1(\gamma _q)`$ is a nonempty $`(n\mathrm{})`$-dimensional subvariety of $`J_q(A)V_{\mathrm{}}`$ for every $`\gamma _qW_{q,f}F_{\mathrm{}}`$, and

(ii) on $`J_q(A)\pi _q^1\left(F_{\mathrm{}}\right)V_{\mathrm{}}`$ the function $`𝒟^q\theta _D`$ locally belongs to the ideal sheaf which is locally generated by the functions

$$\theta _D,𝒟\theta _D,𝒟^2\theta _D,\mathrm{},𝒟^{q1}\theta _D$$

and by the pullbacks to $`J_q(A)`$ of the local holomorphic functions on $`𝐂^{nq}`$ vanishing on $`W_{q,f}`$.

The numbers $`k_0=0`$ and $`k_1=1`$ are chosen so that $`(B)_{\mathrm{}}`$ holds with $`\mathrm{}=1`$ when $`(A)_{\mathrm{}}`$ fails for $`\mathrm{}=1`$.

There exists some $`\zeta _0𝐂`$ such that

$$\pi _q\left((d^qf)(\zeta _0)\right)W_{q,f}F_{\mathrm{}_0+1},$$

where $`\left(d^qf\right)(\zeta _0)`$ denotes the element of $`J_q(A)`$ defined by $`f`$ at $`\zeta _0`$. By Condition (i) of $`(B)_{\mathrm{}_0+1}`$ there exists some point $`Q_0D`$ such that when we define

$$g(\zeta )=\left(Q_0f(\zeta _0)\right)+f(\zeta )A$$

for $`\zeta 𝐂`$, we have

$$\left(d^qg\right)\left(\zeta _0\right)J_q(D)V_{\mathrm{}_0+1}\pi _q^1\left(F_{\mathrm{}_0+1}\right).$$
$`(1)`$
Since $`\pi _q\left(\left(d^qg\right)\left(\zeta \right)\right)=\pi _q\left(\left(d^qf\right)\left(\zeta \right)\right)W_{q,f}`$ for $`\zeta 𝐂`$, from Condition (ii) of $`(B)_{\mathrm{}_0+1}`$ it follows that $`\theta _Dg`$ satisfies a differential equation

$$\left(\frac{d^q}{d\zeta ^q}\right)(\theta _Dg)(\zeta )=\underset{j=0}{\overset{q1}{}}h_j(\zeta )\left(\frac{d^j}{d\zeta ^j}\right)(\theta _Dg)(\zeta )$$
$`(2)`$
on some open neighborhood $`U`$ of $`\zeta _0`$ in $`𝐂`$ for some holomorphic functions $`h_0(\zeta ),\mathrm{},h_{q1}(\zeta )`$ on $`U`$. By $`(1)`$ and $`(2)`$ and the uniqueness part of the fundamental theorem of ordinary differential equations, $`(\theta _Dg)(\zeta )`$ is identically zero for $`\zeta 𝐂`$. Hence the image of $`f`$ is contained in the translate of $`D`$ by $`Q_0f(\zeta _0)`$. This contradicts the assumption that the image of $`f`$ is not contained in any translate of $`D`$ and therefore finishes the verification of Claim 1.

Claim 1 yields the following lemma.

Lemma 1. There exists a polynomial

$$P=P\left(\{d^\mu z_\nu \}_{1\mu k_n,1\nu n}\right)$$

in the variables $`d^\mu z_\nu `$ ($`1\mu k_n,1\nu n`$) with coefficients in $`𝐂`$ such that $`P`$ is not identically zero on $`W_{k_n,f}`$ and $`\pi _{k_n}^{}P`$ is identically zero on $`J_{k_n}(D)`$.

Let $`h_{\alpha ,\overline{\beta }}`$ be the positive definite Hermitian matrix such that

$$\underset{\alpha ,\beta =1}{\overset{n}{}}h_{\alpha ,\overline{\beta }}dz_\alpha \overline{dz_\beta }$$

represents the Chern class of the ample line bundle $`D`$. Denote by $``$ the covariant differentiation for sections of $`D`$ with respect to the metric of $`D`$ whose curvature form is $`_{\alpha ,\beta =1}^nh_{\alpha ,\overline{\beta }}dz_\alpha \overline{dz_\beta }`$. Then for a local section $`s`$ of the ample line bundle $`D`$,

$$s=ds+\left(\underset{\alpha ,\beta =1}{\overset{n}{}}h_{\alpha ,\overline{\beta }}\overline{z_\beta }dz_\alpha \right)s.$$

The following lemma is an immediate consequence of Lemma 1.

Lemma 2. The pullback $`\stackrel{~}{P}`$ to $`𝐂^n`$ of $`P`$ can be written in the form

$$\stackrel{~}{P}=\underset{\mu =0}{\overset{k_n}{}}\stackrel{~}{\rho }_\mu \left(^\mu \theta _D\right),$$
$`(3)`$
where $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }_\mu `$ is a polynomial in $`d^\mu z_\nu `$ ($`1\mu k_n,1\nu n`$) whose coefficients are bounded smooth functions on $`𝐂^n`$.

Let $`𝒜_r()`$ denote the average over the circle of radius $`r`$ centered at $`0`$. Let $`T(r,f,D)`$ be the Nevanlinna characteristic function for the function $`f`$ and the ample line bundle $`D`$ of $`A`$ at the radius $`r`$. Let $`\stackrel{~}{f}:𝐂𝐂^n`$ be the lifting of $`f:𝐂A`$. For a meromorphic function $`F`$ on $`𝐂`$ we denote by $`N(r,F,\mathrm{})`$ the counting function of the map $`𝐂𝐏_1`$ defined by $`F`$ and denote by $`T(r,F)`$ its Nevanlinna characteristic function (with respect to the line bundle of $`𝐏_1`$ of degree $`1`$).

Final Step in the Proof of Theorem A. From $`d^\mu z_\nu =d^\mu \mathrm{log}\left(e^{z_\nu }\right)`$ and the logarithmic derivative lemma it follows that

$$𝒜_r\left(\mathrm{log}^+\right|\stackrel{~}{f}^{}\left(d^\mu z_\nu \right)\left|\right)=O(\mathrm{log}T(r,f,D)+\mathrm{log}r)||$$

and

$$𝒜_r\left(\mathrm{log}^+\right|\stackrel{~}{f}^{}\stackrel{~}{P}\left|\right)=O(\mathrm{log}T(r,f,D)+\mathrm{log}r)||.$$
$`(4)`$
Here we interpret $`\stackrel{~}{f}^{}d^\mu z_\nu `$ as a function of $`\zeta `$ which is the coefficient of the power of $`d\zeta `$. The notation $`\stackrel{~}{f}^{}\stackrel{~}{P}`$ above and $`\stackrel{~}{f}^{}\left(\frac{\stackrel{~}{P}}{\theta _D}\right)`$ carry similar meanings and are functions of $`\zeta `$. By (3) and the logarithmic derivative lemma it follows that

$$𝒜_r\left(\mathrm{log}^+\right|\stackrel{~}{f}^{}\left(\frac{\stackrel{~}{P}}{\theta _D}\right)\left|\right)=O(\mathrm{log}T(r,f,D)+\mathrm{log}r)||.$$
$`(5)`$
From (3) we conclude that

$$N(r,\stackrel{~}{f}^{}\left(\frac{\stackrel{~}{P}}{\theta _D}\right),\mathrm{})N_{k_n}(r,f,D).$$
$`(6)`$
It follows from the First Main Theorem of Nevanlinna theory that

$$\begin{array}{c}\text{ }m(r,f,D)+N(r,f,D)\text{ }\hfill \\ \text{ }=T(r,\stackrel{~}{f}^{}\left(\frac{1}{\theta _D}\right))+O(1)\text{ }\hfill \\ \text{ }=T(r,\stackrel{~}{f}^{}\left(\frac{\stackrel{~}{P}}{\theta _D}\frac{1}{\stackrel{~}{P}}\right))+O(1)\text{ }\hfill \\ \text{ }T(r,\stackrel{~}{f}^{}\left(\frac{\stackrel{~}{P}}{\theta _D}\right))+T(r,\frac{1}{\stackrel{~}{P}})+O(1).\text{ }\hfill \end{array}$$

Using (4), (5), and (6), we obtain

$$m(r,f,D)+N(r,f,D)N_{k_n}(r,f,D)+O(\mathrm{log}T(r,f,D)+\mathrm{log}r)||.$$

Q.E.D.

Remark. The same arguments work for semi-abelian varieties with straightforward modifications.

References.

\[B26\] A. Bloch, Sur les systèmes de fonctions uniformes satisfaisant à l’équation d’une varit́é algébrique dont l’irrégularité dépasse la dimension, J. de Math. 5 (1926), 19-66.

\[NWY99\] J. Noguchi, J. Winkelmann, K. Yamanoi, The second main theorem for holomorphic curves into semi-Abelian varieties, Preprint, University of Tokyo, 1999.

\[SY97\] Y.-T. Siu and S.-K. Yeung, Defects for ample divisors of abelian varieties, Schwarz lemma, and hyperbolic hypersurfaces of low degrees, Amer. J. Math. 119 (1997), 1139-1172.

Authors’ addresses:

Yum-Tong Siu, Department of Mathematics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138. e-mail: siu@math.harvard.edu.

Sai-Kee Yeung, Department of Mathematics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907. e-mail: yeung@math.purdue.edu.


format: text

text:
# Multi-band quantum ratchets

## Abstract

We investigate directed motion in non-adiabatically rocked ratchet systems sustaining few bands below the barrier. Upon restricting the dynamics to the lowest $`M`$ bands, the total system-plus-bath Hamiltonian is mapped onto a discrete tight-binding model containing all the information both on the intra- and inter-well tunneling motion. A closed form for the current in the incoherent tunneling regime is obtained. In effective single-band ratchets, no current rectification occurs. We apply our theory to describe rectification effects in vortex quantum ratchets devices. Current reversals upon variation of the ac-field amplitude or frequency are predicted.

A ratchet, i.e. a periodic structure with broken spatial symmetry, yields the possibility to obtain a directed current in the presence of noise and unbiased nonequilibrium forces Reimann01 . As such, ratchets belong to the class of so termed Brownian motors Special02 , being devices operating far from equilibrium, and which combine noise and asymmetry to generate particle’s transport. A huge amount of experimental and theoretical work exists on ratchets ruled by classical thermal fluctuations Reimann01 ; Special02 , also due to their possible application in biological systems Maddox93 ; Astumian97 . In contrast, little is known about the ratchet effect in the quantum realm. This is partly due to the challenge in the experimental realization of suitable ratchet potentials. Only recently rectification of quantum fluctuations in triangularly shaped semiconductor heterostructures Linke99 , and in quasi one-dimensional Josephson junction arrays Majer01  has been observed. Theoretically, this originates from the complexity in the investigation of the quantum ratchet dynamics. By now the quantum ratchet effect has been tackled only for adiabatically rocked ratchets in a mostly numerical work Reimann97 , for peculiar single band models ratch2 , in the presence of an external force of on-off type ratch1 , and for a weakly corrugated potential Scheidl02 . Typical quantum features, as e.g. a current inversion upon temperature decrease were predicted Reimann97  and demonstrated Linke99 . So far, the band structure of the potential was not considered.

In this letter for the first time a microscopic theory for the interplay among tunneling, vibrational relaxation and non-adiabatic driving in ratchet potentials sustaining few bands below the barrier, cf. Fig. 1, is presented. For these potentials the semiclassical requirement Reimann97  of having many bands below the barrier is not met. Our treatment, mostly analytical, is based on the real time path-integral formalism for open quantum systems Weiss99 . Noticeably, in the temperature and driving regime in which the dynamics is effectively restricted to the lowest band of the periodic potential, no current rectification occurs. In fact, a reduction to the lowest band of the ratchet potential only retains information about the periodicity of the original Hamiltonian, but not about its reflection properties. To take into account the vibrational motion within the well, and hence the asymmetry of the ratchet potential leading to the ratchet effect, at least two bands should contribute.

Starting from the system-plus-reservoir model of a driven ratchet system bi-linearly coupled to a harmonic oscillator bath, we proceed in three steps: i) We consider the regime of temperature and driving parameters which allows the truncation of the full dynamics to the Hilbert space spanned by the $`M`$ lowest bands of the periodic ratchet potential. ii) A rotation to the so-called discrete variable representation (DVR) DVR , being the eigenbasis of the discrete position operator coupling to the bath, is performed. In this basis, the isolated ratchet problem is described by a tight binding model with a periodicity of $`M`$ sites, and with further nearest neighours coupling. iii) The bath degrees of freedom are traced out exactly in the DVR basis, and a closed form expression for the averaged current in the incoherent tunneling regime is obtained. Subsequently our results are applied to investigate current rectification and its optimisation in ac-driven ratchets.

We start considering the total Hamiltonian $`H(t)=H_\mathrm{R}+H_{\mathrm{ext}}(t)+H_\mathrm{B}`$, where $`H_\mathrm{R}=p^2/2m+V_\mathrm{R}(x)`$ is the Hamiltonian for a particle of mass $`m`$ moving in the asymmetric periodic ratchet potential $`V_\mathrm{R}(x+L)=V_\mathrm{R}(x)`$, cf. Fig. 1. Due to Bloch theorem, the spectrum of the isolated system follows from the Schrödinger equation $`H_\mathrm{R}|\mathrm{\Psi }_{n,k}=_n(k)|\mathrm{\Psi }_{n,k}`$, with $`n`$ denoting the band index, and with $`k`$ being the wave-vector. Time-reversal symmetry plus periodicity yield $`_n(k)=E_n+_{m=1}^{\mathrm{}}(\mathrm{\Delta }_n^{(m)}/2)\mathrm{cos}(mkL)`$. The action of the unbiased force is captured by $`H_{\mathrm{ext}}(t)=xF(t)`$, with $`F(t)=F\mathrm{cos}\mathrm{\Omega }t`$, while $`H_\mathrm{B}`$ is the standard Hamiltonian for a harmonic oscillator bath with bilinear coupling in the bath and system coordinates Weiss99 . The character of the bosonic bath is then fully described by the spectral function $`J(\omega )`$. Such a quantity is obtained from the equilibrium noise properties of the real system to be described. We assume the Ohmic form, relevant e.g. in quasi one-dimensional Josephson junction arrays, $`J(\omega )=\eta \omega /(1+(\omega /\omega _\mathrm{D})^2)`$, corresponding to a white noise spectrum in the classical limit, with $`\eta `$ being the friction coefficent, and with $`\omega _\mathrm{D}`$ a bath cut-off frequency.

We introduce Wannier states localized in cell $`j`$ as $`|n,j=(\sqrt{L/2\pi })_{\pi /L}^{\pi /L}𝑑ke^{ikjL}|\mathrm{\Psi }_{n,k}`$. Due to lack of inversion symmetry, it holds $`x|j,n:=\mathrm{\Psi }_{j,n}(x)\mathrm{\Psi }_{j,n}(x)`$ for some $`x`$. In the following, we restrict our attention to the lowest $`M`$ bands of the potential. We focus on Hamiltonians whose spectrum is well approximated by tight-binding Hamiltonians with only nearest-neighbors coupling (miniband-approximation), i.e., $`_n(k)=E_n+(\mathrm{\Delta }_n/2)\mathrm{cos}kL`$.

Then, the ratchet Hamiltonian is fully characterized by the $`2M`$ parameters, $`\{\mathrm{\Delta }_n,E_n\}`$, $`n=1,..,M`$, determining the band widths, and the band centers, respectively. It has the form in the Wannier representation

$`H_\mathrm{R}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{j=\mathrm{}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{M}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Delta }_n}{4}}(|j,nj+1,n|+|j+1,nj,n|)`$ (1)
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{j=\mathrm{}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{M}{}}}E_n|j,nj,n|.`$
Correspondingly, the discrete position operator reads

$$x=\underset{j=\mathrm{}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\underset{n,m=1}{\overset{M}{}}x_j(n,m)|j,nj,m|,$$
(2)
where, due to the localized character of the Wannier states, intercell matrix elements were neglected. Here, $`x_j(n,m)=j,m|x|j,n:=jL\delta _{nm}+\xi _{nm}`$, where the matrix $`\xi _{nm}=\xi _{mn}`$ carries information on the shape of the ratchet potential $`V_\mathrm{R}(x)`$ within a cell. Only within the commonly performed lowest band truncation, $`M=1`$, the position operator $`x`$ is diagonal in the Wannier basis.

We wish to evaluate the average particle’s velocity

$$v=v_{\mathrm{as}}(t)_\mathrm{\Omega }:=\underset{t\mathrm{}}{lim}\mathrm{Tr}\{x\dot{\rho }(t)\}_\mathrm{\Omega }.$$
(3)
Here $`\rho (t)=\mathrm{Tr}_{\mathrm{Bath}}W(t)`$ is the reduced density matrix (RDM) of the system. It is obtained by performing the trace over the bath modes in the density matrix $`W(t)`$ of the system-plus-reservoir. Finally, $`\mathrm{}_\mathrm{\Omega }`$ denotes the time average over a driving period. The evaluation of the velocity $`v`$ is quite intricate: As clearly seen from (2), the coupling to the thermal bath and to the external field modifies the quantum coherent Bloch picture in (1). Being the position operator not diagonal in the Wannier basis, interband transitions become possible due both to the coupling to the thermal bath and to the external field.

For a harmonic bath bilinearly coupled to the system, the trace over the bath degrees of freedom can be done exactly by use of real-time path-integral techniques. This requires, however, to express the full system-plus-bath Hamiltonian $`H(t)`$ in the basis of the eigenstates of the position operator, the so termed discrete variable representation (DVR) DVR ; Thorwart . The contributions $`H_{\mathrm{ext}}(t)`$ and $`H_\mathrm{B}`$ to $`H(t)`$ are already diagonal in this basis, but not the isolated ratchet Hamiltonian. Diagonalization of the matrix $`\xi _{nm}`$ yields the orthogonal transformation $`U`$ from the Wannier to the DVR representation, $`|j,n=_\mu U_{n,\mu }|j,\mu `$, as well as the position operator eigenvalues and eigenvectors $`x|j,\mu =x_{j,\mu }|j,\mu =(jL+x_\mu )|j,\mu `$. Here $`\mu `$ labels the DVR states within  a cell. Thus the ratchet Hamiltonian reads in the DVR basis

$`H_\mathrm{R}={\displaystyle \underset{j=\mathrm{}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\left({\displaystyle \underset{\mu =1}{\overset{M}{}}}ϵ_\mu |j,\mu j,\mu |+{\displaystyle \underset{\mu \nu =1}{\overset{M}{}}}\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mu ,\nu }^{\mathrm{intra}}|j,\mu j,\nu |\right)`$
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{j=\mathrm{}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\mu ,\nu =1}{\overset{M}{}}}\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mu ,\nu }^{\mathrm{inter}}(|j,\mu j+1,\nu |+|j+1,\mu j,\nu |),`$
where the on-site energies read $`ϵ_\mu _nE_nU_{n\mu }U_{n\mu }`$, while $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mu ,\nu }^{\mathrm{intra}}_nE_nU_{n\mu }U_{n\nu }`$ are related to the intracell vibrational motion. Finally, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mu ,\nu }^{\mathrm{inter}}_n(\mathrm{\Delta }_n/4)U_{n\mu }U_{n\nu }`$ accounts for intercell tunneling. Tunneling transitions to any DVR state in the neighboring cell are allowed. Additionally, because $`H_{\mathrm{ext}}(t)`$ is diagonal in the DVR basis, the Hamiltonian $`H(t)`$ has time-dependent on-site energies $`F(t)x_{j,\mu }`$ which add to the intrinsic ones $`ϵ_\mu `$. We have now all the ingredients to evaluate the asymptotic tunneling current. Its expression reads

$$v_{\mathrm{as}}(t)=\underset{t\mathrm{}}{lim}\underset{j=\mathrm{}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\underset{\mu =1}{\overset{M}{}}x_{j,\mu }\dot{P}_{j,\mu }(t),$$
(4)
with the $`P_{j,\mu }(t)`$ being the diagonal elements of the reduced density matrix in the DVR basis. They represent the probability of finding the particle in the state $`|j,\mu `$ at time $`t`$. In the following, we restrict our attention to the incoherent tunneling regime, reached at high enough temperatures and/or friction Weiss99 . Moreover, we consider moderate-to-high frequencies $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, such that $`\omega _0\mathrm{\Omega }>\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\nu ,\mu }^{j,j^{}}`$, with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\nu ,\mu }^{j,j^{}}`$ being the field-averaged transition rate from DVR site $`|j,\nu `$ to $`|j^{},\mu `$. The upper bound, with $`\mathrm{}\omega _0=E_2E_1`$, is needed because of consistency with the truncation of the original problem to the first $`M`$ bands. The lower bound enables to approximate the evolution of the averaged occupation probabilities $`\overline{P}_{j,\mu }(t):=P_{j,\mu }(t)_\mathrm{\Omega }`$ by the coupled equations

$`{\displaystyle \frac{d\overline{P}_{j,\mu }(t)}{dt}}={\displaystyle \underset{\nu \mu }{}}[\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mu ,\nu }^{j,j}\overline{P}_{j,\mu }(t)\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\nu ,\mu }^{j,j}\overline{P}_{j,\nu }(t)]`$ (5)
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{\nu }{}}[\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mu ,\nu }^{j,j1}+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mu ,\nu }^{j,j+1}]\overline{P}_{j,\mu }(t)`$
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{\nu }{}}[\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\nu ,\mu }^{j1,j}\overline{P}_{j1,\nu }(t)+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\nu ,\mu }^{j+1,j}\overline{P}_{j+1,\nu }(t)].`$
Within an incoherent tunneling description it is appropriate to evaluate such rates as an expansion in terms of the coupling matrix elements $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mu ,\nu }^{j,j^{}}`$, with $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mu ,\nu }^{j,j}=\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mu ,\nu }^{\mathrm{intra}}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mu ,\nu }^{j,j\pm 1}=\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mu ,\nu }^{\mathrm{inter}}`$. To lowest order we find

$`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mu ,\nu }^{j,j^{}}=\left(\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mu ,\nu }^{j,j^{}}/\mathrm{}\right)^2{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑\tau e^{Q_{\mu ,\nu }^{j,j^{}}(\tau )}`$ (6)
$`\times `$ $`J_0\left({\displaystyle \frac{2F(x_{j,\mu }x_{j^{},\nu })}{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Omega }}}\mathrm{sin}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }\tau }{2}}\right)\right)e^{i(ϵ_\mu ϵ_\nu )\tau /\mathrm{}},`$
where the external field parameters enter the argument of the zero-order Bessel function $`J_0`$. This yields a strong reduction of the rate (6), when $`ϵ_\mu ϵ_\nu =n\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Omega }`$ and the ratio $`F(x_{j,\mu }x_{j^{},\nu })/\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Omega }`$ hits a zero of the Bessel function $`J_n`$. In the absence of dissipation, similar conditions would yield a dynamical localization of the particle Physrep ; Kenkre . However, finite temperatures of the bath hinder this effect. The environmental influence is determined by the bath correlation function $`Q_{\mu ,\nu }^{j,j^{}}(\tau )=\frac{(x_{j,\mu }x_{j^{},\nu })^2}{2\pi \mathrm{}}_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑\omega \frac{J(\omega )}{\omega ^2}[\mathrm{coth}(\mathrm{}\beta \omega /2)(1\mathrm{cos}\omega \tau )+i\mathrm{sin}\omega \tau ]`$ Weiss99 . Note that the dissipation strength depends on the square distance between the DVR states involved. It is position-dependent through the dimensionless coupling parameter

$$\alpha _{\mu ,\nu }^{j,j^{}}=\frac{\eta }{2\pi \mathrm{}}(x_{j,\mu }x_{j^{},\nu })^2.$$
(7)
For symmetric cosine shaped potentials a bath-induced localization at zero-temperatures has been predicted for dissipation parameters $`\alpha =\eta L^2/(2\pi \mathrm{})>1`$ Bray . A similar tendence to localization occurs in our ratchet for large dissipation strengths $`\alpha _{\mu ,\nu }^{j,j\pm 1}>1`$ and zero temperature. However, appropriately tuned ac-fields can help preventing localization.

The stationary solutions of the coupled system of equations (5) can be found upon Laplace transformation. Then, the current assumes the compact form

$$v=L\underset{\nu ,\mu }{}p_\nu ^{\mathrm{}}(\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\nu ,\mu }^{\mathrm{inter},f}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\nu ,\mu }^{\mathrm{inter},b}),$$
(8)
where we introduced the forward and backward time-averaged rates $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mu ,\nu }^{\mathrm{inter},f/b}:=\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mu ,\nu }^{j,j\pm 1}`$, and the vibrational relaxation rates $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mu ,\nu }^{\mathrm{intra}}:=\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mu ,\nu }^{j,j}`$ ($`\mu \nu `$). The asymptotic cell occupation probabilities $`p_\mu ^{\mathrm{}}:=lim_t\mathrm{}_j\overline{P}_{j,\mu }(t)`$ are expressed in terms of the averaged rates. For $`M=1`$, the current in (8) is zero, as a consequence of time-reversal symmetry. Thus single-band quantum ratchets support no current, as recently reported in Majer01 . They define a new class of supersymmetric Reimann01  potentials in the quantum regime. At least two bands should contribute to the dynamics in order to have a non-vanishing current. For $`M=3`$ contributing bands (or DVR states) we find

$`p_1^{\mathrm{}}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }_2\mathrm{\Gamma }_3\mathrm{\Gamma }_{2,3}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{3,2}}{_{\nu =1}^3_{\gamma >\nu =1}^3(\mathrm{\Gamma }_\nu \mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma \mathrm{\Gamma }_{\nu ,\gamma }\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\gamma ,\nu })}},`$ (9)
where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\nu =_{\mu \nu }\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\nu ,\mu }`$, and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\nu ,\mu }:=\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\nu ,\mu }^{\mathrm{inter},f}+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\nu ,\mu }^{\mathrm{inter},b}+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\nu ,\mu }^{\mathrm{intra}}.`$ Likewise, $`p_2^{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`p_3^{\mathrm{}}`$ can be obtained from (9) upon cyclic index permutation. In the absence of ac-driving the rates (6) obey the detailed-balance relation

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mu ,\nu }^{j,j^{}}=\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\nu ,\mu }^{j^{},j}e^{(ϵ_\mu ϵ_\nu )/k_\mathrm{B}T},$$
(10)
so that the total current in (8) adds up to zero. The ac-field invalidates (10), and a net current is originated.

Up to this point, our results are general. We apply now our theory to make predictions for vortex motion in quantum ratchets devices. These could be realized with rectangular Majer01  or circular Falo02  arrays of different-sized Josephson junctions. Upon applying a magnetic field perpendicular to the array, current vortices are originated, whose dynamics is homologous to that of a quantum Brownian particle in a periodic ratchet potential Lobb83 ; Orlando91 . The particle’s mass is $`m=\mathrm{\Phi }_0^2C/2a^2`$, where $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$ is the flux quantum, $`C`$ is the average capacitance of the junctions, and $`a`$ is the average junction distance in the direction of motion. The magnitude of the potential felt by the vortices is proportional to the Josephson energy $`E_J`$. The vortices can be put into motion upon injecting a current $`I=I_{\mathrm{AC}}\mathrm{cos}(\mathrm{\Omega }t)`$ into the array, which exerts a Lorentz-like force on such particles. At low vortex densities, the voltage drop $`V`$ across the array is related to the vortex velocity by the second Josephson relation

$$V=sv\mathrm{\Phi }_0/L,$$
(11)
where $`s`$ is the one-dimensional vortex density. Figures 2 and 3 illustrate our predictions for current rectification for the driven ratchet potential shown in Fig. 1. It supports only three bands below the barrier, being characterized by $`\mathrm{\Delta }_1=4.43\times 10^3\mathrm{}\omega _0`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_2=6.68\times 10^2\mathrm{}\omega _0`$, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3=3.10\times 10^1\mathrm{}\omega _0`$. The center of the bands read, $`E_1=5.87\times 10^1\mathrm{}\omega _0`$, $`E_2=1.59\mathrm{}\omega _0`$, and $`E_3=2.45\mathrm{}\omega _0`$. This is the potential reported in Majer01  at a temperature of $`T=50mK`$, corresponding to a charging energy $`E_J=429\mu `$eV=$`8\mathrm{}\omega _0`$. We choose an average capacitance $`C=2`$fF, an average distance $`a=L/3=2\mu m`$, and frustation $`s=0.277`$. The average junction resistance $`R`$ is taken as a free parameter. It determines the friction parameter $`\eta \frac{\mathrm{\Phi }_0^2}{2Ra^2}`$, and the bath cut-off $`\omega _\mathrm{D}(RC)^1`$ Orlando91 . In Figs. 2 and 3 we focus on two different values of the dimensionless friction parameter $`\alpha `$, cf. below (7), i.e., $`\alpha =0.5`$ and $`\alpha =2.0`$ which describe a moderate and a strong damping regime, respectively. These fully specifies the ratchet potential and the bath parameters. Finally, the injected ac-current induces a force $`F(t)=I_{\mathrm{AC}}\mathrm{cos}(\mathrm{\Omega }t)\mathrm{\Phi }_0/N_ca`$, where $`N_c=304`$ is the chosen number of junction columns of the array.

Figs. 2 and 3 reveal how the interplay among driving-induced localization near the zeros of the Bessel function in (6), driving-assisted tunneling when the driving frequency matches resonances of the dissipative ratchet system, and dissipation results in a nontrivial non-monotonic dependence of the current on the applied ac-amplitude and frequency. Likewise a non-monotonic behavior occurs varying damping. For example, different current directions are observed for small ac-amplitudes in the curves with driving $`\mathrm{\Omega }=\omega _0`$ of Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. This inversion also occurs in combination with a change in the bath cut-off frequency $`\omega _\mathrm{D}`$. As damping is further increased the main resonance peaks get shifted to even larger values of the driving amplitude, and the ratchet signal is reduced.

In conclusion we investigated the ratchet mechanism in periodic quantum structures with few bands below the barrier, and driven by non-adiabatic time-dependent fields. A set of coupled master equations for the reduced density matrix elements in the basis which diagonalizes the position operator are derived. The validity of our method is restricted to the deep quantum regime, since thermally activated processes over the barrier are disregarded. Our approach is complementary to the semiclassical analysis of Reimann97 , where many bands below the barrier are required. We discussed current rectification in Josephson ratchets. Current reversals result from the interplay of driving-induced dynamical-localization Physrep  versus dissipation-assisted diffusion. Optimal current rectification is obtained for moderate damping, and driving frequencies of the order of the typical relaxation time of the environment.

\***

We thank M. Thorwart, P. Hänggi and J.E. Mooij for useful discussions. Support by FOM is acknowledged.