Aharonov–Bohm oscillations in disordered nanorings with quantum dots: Effect of electron–electron interactions

We investigate the effect of electron–electron interactions on Aharonov–Bohm (AB) current oscillations in nanorings formed by a chain of metallic quantum dots. We demonstrate that electron–electron interactions cause electron dephasing thereby suppressing the amplitude of AB oscillations at all temperatures down to T=0. The crossover between thermal and quantum dephasing is found to be controlled by the ring perimeter. Our predictions can be directly tested in future experiments.