Transport in an inhomogeneous interacting one--dimensional system

TL;DR

This paper investigates electron transport in a one-dimensional interacting wire connected to leads, revealing how conductance and reflections are affected by interactions, junction variations, and superconducting tendencies using bosonization.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis of transport properties in inhomogeneous 1D systems, including conductance determination and effects of superconducting order.

Findings

Conductance depends solely on lead properties.

Abrupt interaction changes create Fabry-Perot resonances.

Superconducting tendencies induce partial Andreev reflection.

Abstract

Transport through a one--dimensional wire of interacting electrons connected to semi--infinite leads is investigated using a bosonization approach. An incident electron is transmitted as a sequence of partial charges. The dc conductance is found to be entirely determined by the properties of the leads. The dynamic nonlocal conductivity is rigorously expressed in terms of the transmission. For abrupt variations of the interaction parameters at the junctions the central wire acts as a Fabry--Perot resonator. When one of the connected wires has a tendency towards superconducting order, partial Andreev reflection of an incident electron occurs.