A theory of metallic conductivity of the two-dimensional electron gas

It is well known that electron-electron interaction in two-dimensional disordered systems leads to logarithmically divergent Altshuler-Aronov corrections to conductivity at low temperatures (Ttau much less than 1; tau is the elastic mean-free time). This work is devoted to the fate of such corrections at intermediate temperatures Ttau > 1. We show that in this (ballistic) regime the temperature dependence of conductivity is still governed by the same physical processes as the Altshuler-Aronov corrections-electron scattering by Friedel oscillations. However, in this regime the correction is linear in temperature; the value and even the sign of the slope depends on the strength of electron-electron interaction (this sign change may be relevant for the "metal-insulator" transition observed recently), (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.