Conductance and absolutely continuous spectrum of 1D samples (Q2630728)

The authors exhibit a connection between the transport theory of open quantum systems on the one hand, and the special theory of discrete Schrödinger operators on the other hand, and so for 1D geometries. The two characteristics of interest here are the following ones: (a) the physical characterization of the conducting regime of the expanded sample and (b) the mathematical definition of the conducting regime of the extended sample. The equivalence between these two properties is stated in the form of two mathematical conjectures which are then proven. This proof works via the transfer matrix. They recall some background on the Landauer-Büttiker and Thouless formulae. Successively, they consider transfer matrices and AC spectrum, transfer matrices and Landauer conductance, transfer matrices and Thouless conductance.