Thermal transport in heavy fermions and valence fluctuators

Tuesday, February 7, 2012 - 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Reiss 502
Veljko Zlatic
Institute of Physics, Zagreb, Croatia

The intermetallic compounds with Ce, Eu, and Yb ions display interesting and complex behavior. For example, one observes electrons with very large mass (heavy fermions) or rare earth ions with a fluctuating valence. The high- and low-temperature behavior of these systems can often be discussed in simple terms but the asymptotic models that provide the high- and low-temperature features seem to be mutually exclusive. It turns out that these anomalies can only be explained by taking into account the strong electron-electron correlation.

In this talk I shall mainly discuss one particular aspect of strongly correlated systems, namely, the charge and heat transport. My aim is to show how we can increase the efficiency of the thermoelectric devices by quantum mechanics.

To discuss the properties thermoelectric devices one has to use the irreversible thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and statistical physics at the same time. This makes the thermoelectricity a difficult subject but also a rewarding one.

Host: Jim Freericks
Discussion Leader: Amy Liu