Advanced Studies in Theoretical Physics

Vol. 9, 2015, no. 2, 77 - 83

HIKARI Ltd, www.m-hikari.com
http://dx.doi.org/10.12988/astp.2015.412159

Determining the Resistance of a Full-Infinite

Ladder Network Using Lattice Greens Function

Mohammad Q. Owaidat

Department of Physics
Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, Maan, Jordan

Copyright 2015 Mohammad Q. Owaidat. This is an open access article distributed under the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

In this work we calculate the two-point resistance on a full-infinite ladder

lattice of identical resistors using lattice Greens function. Our theoretical results
for the resistance are verified computationally by creating different virtual sizes of
resistive ladder network.

Keywords: Two- point resistance, Infinite ladder lattice, Lattice Greens function

1. Introduction
An interesting and educational problem in electric circuit analysis is the
computation of the equivalent resistance between any two nodes in several infinite
resistive lattices. Various advanced mathematical approaches are used to study the
problem, such as finite difference equations, random walks, and the
lattice Greens function (LGF) [1-7].
In a recent article [8], a general method for calculating the equivalent resistance
between two arbitrary nodes on any infinite lattice structure of resistor network
that is a periodic tiling of space in all dimensions using the LGF was presented.
Following the Refs. [6-8] numerous studies of the resistance problem had been
published [9-19]. In this paper we apply the LGF approach [8] to the
one-dimensional, full-infinite ladder network of resistors (a strip of the triangular
lattice). Indeed, this lattice is considered a one-dimensional resistor lattice with
next-nearest neighbor resistors. We present some analytical results for resistance
between different nodes. We confirm these results numerically.
78 Mohammad Q. Owaidat

Finally we think that the present problem could be useful in advanced

undergraduate mathematical methods courses for students of physics and would
provide an interesting pedagogical example of introducing the lattice Green's
function, as well as other crucial concepts (such as the lattice point, the unit cell
and Brillouin zone ) used in solid state physics.

2. Green's Functions and Resistances for Full Infinite Ladder

Lattice
Consider the full-infinite ladder network of identical resistors R as shown in
Fig.1. The position vector of any lattice point is given by x na , where n is integer
and a is the unit cell length. The unit cell contains two lattice points labeled by
A, B . If {x, } denotes any lattice point, then I ( x) and V ( x) denote the
current and potential at point {x ; } , respectively.

Figure1. The full- infinite ladder lattice consisting of identical resistors R . The
unit cell containing two lattice points A and B.

Now we assume that the current enters the node {x ; } from a source outside
the lattice (see figure 1). Applying Kirchhoff's current law and using Ohm's law
the currents at the points {x ; A } and {x ; B } are given by

VA ( x) VA ( x a) VA ( x) VA ( x a) VA ( x) VB ( x) VA ( x) VB ( x a)
I A ( x) (1)
R R R R

VB ( x) VB ( x a) VB ( x) VB ( x a) VB ( x) VA ( x) VB ( x) VA ( x a)
I B ( x) (2)
R R R R

Equations (1) and (2) can be written in a matrix notation:

x L( x , x )V ( x ) R I ( x ) (3)

where L( x , x ) is a 2 by 2 matrix called Laplacian matrix.

Determining the resistance of a full-infinite ladder network 79

By assuming the current and potential are periodic functions in one dimension,
with period a in the direction x, the current I ( x) and the electric potential V ( x)
at node {x ; } can be written in terms of their Fourier transforms as the following

/a /a
a a
I ( x ) V ( x)
ikx
I (k ) e dk , V (k ) eikx dk (4)
2
/a
2
/a

where k is the wavevector in the Fourier space and is limited to the first Brillouin
zone. The boundaries of first Brillouin zone are at k / a. Substituting The
equations into (1) and (2), we get

V (k ) I (k )
L( k ) A R A (5)
VB (k ) I B (k )

where L(k ) is the Fourier transform of the Laplacian matrix and given by

4 2cos ka 1 e-ika
L( k ) (6)
1 e 4 2cos ka
ika

The lattice Green's function G(k ) ( 2 by 2 matrix) corresponding to the Laplacian

matrix L(k ) is defined as G(k ) L1 (k ) . Therefore, G(k ) can be calculated to be

1 4 2cos ka 1 eika
G (k ) (7)
detL(k ) 1 eika 4 2cos ka

where detL(k ) 14 18cos ka 4cos 2 ka is the determinant of matrix L(k ) .

Using the general expression for the two-point resistance, in any d- dimensional
lattice structure, derived in [8]( for more details see [8]) ,the resistance between
the origin {0; } and the node {n ; } in the full- infinite ladder lattice ( with d=1) is
given by

R (n )
R
2
d G ( ) G ( ) G ( )e -in G ( )e in (8)
where ka and G ( ) is the elements of the matrix G ( ) given in equation (8).
There are four types of resistance:

d (2 cos )(1 cos n )
RAA (n) RBB (n) 2 R (9)

2 (7 2cos )(1 cos )
80 Mohammad Q. Owaidat

d 4 2 c os cno s nco s( 1)
RAB (n) R (10)

2 (7 2cos )(1 cos )

d 4 2cos cos n cos(n 1)
R BA (n ) R AB (n ) R 2

(7 2cos )(1 cos )
(11)

From the above equations, one can obtain the resistance between any lattice points
by performing the integrals analytically using residue theorem (contour integral)
or numerically using MATHEMATICA. As example, the resistance between the
lattice points {0; A } and {1; A } is given by

R 4 2cos
R AA (1)
2 d 7 2cos

(12)

Using contour integral the integral can be written as

R z 2 4z 1
R AA (1)
2 i z 1
dz
z (z 2 7z 1)
(13)

where z e i . The integrand has two simple poles located in the unit circle z 1 ,
z 1 0 and z 2 (7 3 5) / 2 . Therefore, R AA (1) R ( 5 1) / 5 0.552786R .
In the same manner we evaluated the resistance analytically for the following
cases:
R AA (2) R (5 5 9) / 5, R AB (0) R BA (0) R BA (1) R AB (1) R / 5 ,
R AB (1) R BA (2) R (4 5) / 5 . Theoretical values for some additional
effective resistances are summarized in Tables 1 and 2.

To numerically confirm our theoretical results, we created virtual finite ladder

resistor networks of different sizes: (9 by 2), and (13 by 2) of identical resistors
( R 1) with the Electronic Workbench software. The numerical results are
listed in Table 1.

It can be seen in the tables that the theoretical and numerical results of
resistances are in adequate agreement except one of the nodes is closer to the
edges of the finite lattice. One can also see that as the size of the network
increases, the agreement with the infinite network improves.
Determining the resistance of a full-infinite ladder network 81

R AA ( n ) / R R AB ( n ) / R
The
node Infinite Numerical results Infinite Numerical results
N network network
2 92 13 2 2 92 13 2
0 0 0 0 0.447214 0.447214 0.447214

1 0.552786 0.552792 0.552792 0.788854 0.788851 0.788851

2 0.975078 0.975055 0.975055 1.180339 1.180405 1.180405

3 1.378329 1.378677 1.378359 1.579098 1.581028 1.579070

4 1.778804 1.791847 1.779096 1.978916 2.068252 1.979218

5 2.178874 2.179837 2.378889 2.380952

6 2.578884 2.592353 2.778886 2.868754

Table 1. Theoretical and numerical values of the resistances between the origin
{0; A } and the node {n ; A , B } ,(RAA(n), RAB(n)),for a ladder lattice network.
The theoretical values are for an infinite ladder, and the numerical values are for
finite ladder lattices.

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Received: January 2, 2015; Published: January 29, 2015