Theoretical modeling of spatial and temperature dependent exciton energy in coupled quantum wells

Motivated by a recent experiment of spatial and temperature dependent average exciton energy distribution in coupled quantum wells [S. Yang \textit{et al.}, Phys. Rev. B \textbf{75}, 033311 (2007)], we investigate the nature of the interactions in indirect excitons. Based on the uncertainty principle, along with a temperature and energy dependent distribution which includes both population and recombination effects, we show that the interplay between an attractive two-body interaction and a repulsive three-body interaction can lead to a natural and good account for the nonmonotonic temperature dependence of the average exciton energy. Moreover, exciton energy maxima are shown to locate at the brightest regions, in agreement with the recent experiments. Our results provide an alternative way for understanding the underlying physics of the exciton dynamics in coupled quantum wells.