Transfer-matrix approach to electron transport in inhomogeneous magnetic fields Original Research Article

A transfer-matrix method to study quantum transport of two-dimensional (2D) electron systems subject to inhomogeneous magnetic fields has been developed. This method enables us to calculate conductance within the same order of a computing time with those of one-dimensional transfer-matrix calculations. This is because the present method does not involve any diagonalization procedure, while a conventional transfer-matrix technique for 2D systems requires to diagonalize the Hamiltonian for thin strips in the system, which consumes a long computing time. Using this method, we calculate conductances of 2D electrons in periodically modulated and random magnetic fields.