Colloquium: Quantum heat transport in condensed matter systems

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent theoretical and experimental advances in quantum heat transport in mesoscopic systems, highlighting quantized conductance, control mechanisms, and potential thermal device applications.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the theoretical foundations, experimental observations, and control techniques for quantum heat transport in one-dimensional channels.

Findings

Experimental evidence of quantized heat conductance in various particles

Methods to control quantum heat flow using electric and magnetic fields

Potential applications in thermal devices like heat valves and refrigerators

Abstract

In this Colloquium recent advances in the field of quantum heat transport are reviewed. This topic has been investigated theoretically for several decades, but only during the past twenty years have experiments on various mesoscopic systems become feasible. A summary of the theoretical basis for describing heat transport in one-dimensional channels is first provided. Then the main experimental investigations of quantized heat conductance due to phonons, photons, electrons, and anyons in such channels are presented. These experiments are important for understanding the fundamental processes that underly the concept of a heat conductance quantum for a single channel. Then an illustration on how one can control the quantum heat transport by means of electric and magnetic fields, and how such tunable heat currents can be useful in devices is given. This lays the basis for realizing various thermal device components such as quantum heat valves, rectifiers, heat engines, refrigerators, and calorimeters. Also of interest are fluctuations of quantum heat currents, both for fundamental reasons and for optimizing the most sensitive thermal detectors; at the end of the review the status of research on this intriguing topic is given.