Conductance and polarization in quantum junctions

R.W. Godby, P. Bokes

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Abstract

We revisit the expression for the conductance of a general nanostructure -- such as a quantum point contact -- as obtained from the linear response theory. We show that the conductance represents the strength of the Drude singularity in the conductivity $\sigma(k,k';i\omega \to 0)$. Using the equation of continuity for electric charge we obtain a formula for conductance in terms of polarization of the system. This identification can be used for direct calculation of the conductance for systems of interest even at the {\it ab-initio} level. In particular, we show that one can evaluate the conductance from calculations for a finite system without the need for special ``transport'' boundary conditions.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)Art. No. 245420
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume69
Issue number24
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jun 2004

Bibliographical note

© 2004 American Physical Society. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Physical Review B and uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self archiving policy.

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