Theory of shift heat current and its application to electron-phonon coupled systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces the concept of shift heat current, a nonlinear heat current response related to geometric properties, and explores its behavior in electron-phonon systems using a diagrammatic approach.

Contribution

It develops a microscopic theory of shift heat current, linking it to the shift vector, and applies it to electron-phonon systems to reveal control mechanisms.

Findings

Shift heat current is related to the shift vector and can be controlled via chemical potential.

Even with only phonons excited, the shift heat current amplitude depends on electronic energy scales.

The diagrammatic method effectively describes nonlinear heat responses in coupled systems.

Abstract

We propose a heat current analog of the shift current, "shift heat current". We study nonlinear heat current responses to an applied ac electric field by a diagrammatic method and derive a microscopic expression for the second order dc heat current response. As a result, we find that the shift heat current is related to the shift vector, a geometric quantity that also appears in the expression for the shift current. The shift heat current directly depends on and can be controlled through the chemical potential. In addition, we apply the diagrammatic method to electron-phonon coupled systems, and we find that even if only the phonons are excited by an external field, the amplitude of the shift heat current is determined by the energy scale of electrons, not of phonons.