First principle theory of correlated transport through nano-junctions

TL;DR

This paper introduces a first-principles theoretical framework for calculating electron transport in nano-junctions that accounts for electron-electron correlations, enhancing the accuracy of transport property predictions.

Contribution

It reformulates Landauer's approach to include interactions, enabling ab initio analysis of correlated electron transport in nano-scale systems.

Findings

Correlation effects significantly alter transport properties.

Short-range interactions impact conductance in Pt atomic wires.

The framework distinguishes between coherent and incoherent transport corrections.

Abstract

We report the inclusion of electron-electron correlation in the calculation of transport properties within an ab initio scheme. A key step is the reformulation of Landauer's approach in terms of an effective transmittance for the interacting electron system. We apply this framework to analyze the effect of short range interactions on Pt atomic wires and discuss the coherent and incoherent correction to the mean-field approach.