QUROPE Quantum Information Processing and Communication in Europe

We derive a general formula for the charge pumped in a superconducting nanocircuit. Our expression generalizes previous results in several ways; it is applicable in both the adiabatic and in the nonadiabatic regimes and it takes into account also the effect of an external environment. More specifically, by applying Floquet theory to Cooper pair pumping, we show that under a cyclic evolution the total charge transferred through the circuit is proportional to the derivative of the associated Floquet quasi-energy with respect to the superconducting phase difference. In the presence of an external environment the expression for the transferred charge acquires a transparent form in the Floquet representation. It is given by the weighted sum of the charge transferred in each Floquet state, the weights being the diagonal components of the stationary density matrix of the system expressed in the Floquet basis. To test the power of this formulation we apply it to the study of pumping in a Cooper pair sluice. We reproduce the known results in the adiabatic regime and we show new data in the nonadiabatic case.