Electronic spectrum and ballistic transport in a helical nanotube

A model of a helical nanotube permitting analytical calculation of the spectrum and wave functions is proposed and studied. It is shown that the specific character of the symmetry of the Hamiltonian results in an electronic spectrum having no band structure despite the periodicity of the potential along the system axis. A two-dimensional ribbon rolled into a helix and a quasi-one-dimensional helix in a magnetic field are considered as limiting cases of the model. It is shown that the presence of additional local minima in the subbands of the electronic spectrum leads to a nonmonotonic dependence of the ballistic conductance of the system on the chemical potential.