dc transport in quantum wires

The influence of the electron-electron interaction on the two-terminal dc conductance of one-dimensional quantum wires is studied. A cancelation between the effect of the electron-electron interaction on the current and on the external electric field is the reason for the universal value, ${\mathit{e}}^2$/2πħ per mode, of the dc conductance of a clean wire. The effect of the renormalization of the electric field on the dc conductance in the presence of an interplay between the electron-electron interaction and backward scattering due to an impurity is considered. © 1996 The American Physical Society.