2004/05/14 by Gianluigi Catelani, G. Catelani, I. L. Aleǐner +1 · 6 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Organic and Molecular Conductors Research #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Thermal properties of materials #cond-mat.dis-nn
paper · pdf · doi:10.1134/1.1884675
published as Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics, Vol. 100, No. 2, 2005, pp. 331--369; · 4 figures, 35 pages
arxiv created 2004/05/14 · openalex publication_date 2005/02/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
We consider singular electron-electron interaction corrections to transport coefficients in disordered metals to test the validity of the Wiedemann-Franz law. We develop a local, quantum kinetic equation approach in which the charge and energy conservation laws are explicitly satisfied. To obtain the local description, we introduce bosonic distribution functions for the neutral low-energy collective modes (electron-hole pairs). The resulting system of kinetic equations enables us to distinguish between the different physical processes involved in charge and energy transport: elastic electron scattering affects both, while the inelastic processes influence only the latter. Moreover, neutral bosons, although incapable of transporting charge, contribute significantly to energy transport. In our approach, we calculate on equal footing the electric and thermal conductivities and the specific heat in each dimension. We find that the Wiedemann-Franz law is always violated by the interaction corrections; the violation is larger for one-and two-dimensional systems in the diffusive regime T τ≪ and is due to the energy transported by neutral bosons. For two-dimensional systems in the quasi-ballistic regime T τ≫, the inelastic scattering of the electron on the bosons also contributes to the violation.