Disordered electronic systems

Abstract

This paper reviews the progress made in the last several years in understanding the properties of disordered electronic systems. Even in the metallic limit, serious deviations from the Boltzmann transport theory and Fermi-liquid theory have been predicted and observed experimentally. There are two important ingredients in this new understanding: the concept of Anderson localization and the effects of interaction between electrons in a disordered medium. This paper emphasizes the theoretical aspect, even though some of the relevant experiments are also examined. The bulk of the paper focuses on the metallic side, but the authors also discuss the metal-to-insulator transition and comment on problems associated with the insulator.