# On the role of local many-body interactions on the thermoelectric properties of fullerene junctions

## TL;DR

This paper investigates how local electron-vibration and electron-electron interactions influence the thermoelectric behavior of fullerene molecular junctions using a self-consistent adiabatic model, aligning well with experimental results.

## Contribution

It introduces a non-perturbative, self-consistent approach to analyze combined local interactions in fullerene junctions, improving understanding of thermoelectric properties.

## Key findings

- Combined interactions are essential for accurate conductance and Seebeck coefficient predictions.
- The model aligns well with experimental data.
- Local interactions significantly affect thermoelectric behavior.

## Abstract

The role of local electron-vibration and electron-electron interactions on the thermoelectric properties of molecular junctions is theoretically analyzed focusing on devices based on fullerene molecules. A self-consistent adiabatic approach is used in order to obtain a non-perturbative treatment of the electron coupling to low frequency vibrational modes, such as those of the molecule center of mass between metallic leads. The approach incorporates also the effects of strong electron-electron interactions between molecular degrees of freedom within the Coulomb blockade regime. The analysis is based on a one-level model which takes into account the relevant transport level of fullerene and its alignment to the chemical potential of the leads. We demonstrate that only the combined effect of local electron-vibration and electron-electron interactions is able to predict the correct behavior of both the charge conductance and the Seebeck coefficient in very good agreement with available experimental data.