Anomalous Thermal Transport in Quantum Wires

TL;DR

This paper investigates how interactions in a one-dimensional quantum wire affect thermal transport, revealing that plasmons, not electrons, carry energy and can become localized, leading to charge-energy separation.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of thermal transport in quantum wires, highlighting the role of bosonic excitations and plasmon localization, which was not previously well-understood.

Findings

Electrons transmit without backscattering, maintaining electric conductance.

Energy transport is dominated by plasmons, which can be localized by disorder.

Charge-energy separation occurs due to plasmon localization.

Abstract

We study thermal transport in a one-dimensional quantum wire, connected to reservoirs. Despite of the absence of electron backscattering, interactions in the wire strongly influence thermal transport. Electrons propagate with unitary transmission through the wire and electric conductance is not affected. Energy, however, is carried by bosonic excitations (plasmons) which suffer from scattering even on scales much larger than the Fermi wavelength. If the electron density varies randomly, plasmons are localized and {\em charge-energy separation} occurs. We also discuss the effect of plasmon-plasmon interaction using Levinson's theory of nonlocal heat transport.