Kondo Effect and Persistent Currents in a Mesoscopic Ring: Numerically Exact Results

We study the persistent current circulating along a mesoscopic ring with a dot side-coupled to it when threaded by a magnetic field. A cluster including the dot and its vicinity is diagonalized and embedded into the rest of the system. The result is numerically exact. We show that a ring of any size can be in the Kondo regime, although for small sizes it depends upon the magnetic flux. In the Kondo regime, the current can be a smooth or a strongly dependent function of the gate potential according to the structure of occupation of the highest energetic electrons of the system.