INELASTICITY AND NONLINEARITY IN MESOSCOPIC TRANSPORT

The conductance of a one-dimensional mesoscopic system is calculated using a scattering-theory approach in the number representation of the conduction electrons. With the weak-scattering limit imposed within a current-conserving formalism, the blocking effect due to Pauli exclusion principle arises naturally. For the case of a single impurity in a mesoscopic structure, the derivative of the conductance with respect to the measured potential difference is given in terms of the dynamical structure factor of the scatterer; hence, a close link between inelasticity and nonlinearity is established. Our results are generalized to higher-dimensional mesoscopic systems.