Interaction corrections to the thermopower of the disordered two-dimensional electron gas

TL;DR

This paper investigates how electron-electron interactions affect the thermopower in a disordered two-dimensional electron gas, revealing that real processes dominate and cause a logarithmic temperature dependence of the correction.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of interaction corrections to thermopower, emphasizing the dominance of real processes and their logarithmic temperature dependence in disordered 2D electron gases.

Findings

Real processes dominate the correction to thermopower.

Interaction correction exhibits a logarithmic temperature dependence.

The correction leads to a negative change in thermopower.

Abstract

At low temperatures, the transport coefficients in the disordered electron gas acquire quantum corrections as a result of the complex interplay of disorder and interactions. The interaction corrections to the electric conductivity have their origin in virtual processes with typical electronic energies far exceeding the temperature. Here, we study interaction corrections $\delta S$ to the thermopower $S$ of the two-dimensional disordered electron gas with long-range Coulomb interactions. We show that while both real and virtual processes contribute to these corrections, the real processes are dominant and lead to a logarithmic temperature dependence of $\delta S/S$ with $\delta S/S<0$.