A Monte Carlo approach to determine conductance distributions in quasi-one-dimensional disordered wires

A detailed analysis of the statistical distribution of conductance P(g) of quasi-one-dimensional disordered wires in the metal-insulator crossover is presented. The distribution P(g) is obtained from a Monte Carlo solution of the Dorokhov, Mello, Pereyra and Kumar (DMPK) scaling equation, showing full agreement with 'tight-binding' numerical calculations of bulk disordered wires. Perturbation theory is shown to be valid even for mean dimensionless conductance values of the order of 1. In the crossover from diffusive to localized regimes (<1), P(g) presents a characteristic shape different from that observed in surface disordered wires.