  We calculate the conductance of atomic chains as a function of their length.
Using the Density Matrix Renormalization Group algorithm for a many-body model
which takes into account electron-electron interactions and the shape of the
contacts between the chain and the leads, we show that length-dependent
oscillations of the conductance whose period depends on the electron density in
the chain can result from electron-electron scattering alone. The amplitude of
these oscillations can increase with the length of the chain, in contrast to
the result from approaches which neglect the interactions.
