Interaction-Assisted Reversal of Thermopower with Ultracold Atoms


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Date

2021-04

Publication Type

Journal Article

ETH Bibliography

yes

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Abstract

We study thermoelectric currents of neutral, fermionic atoms flowing through a mesoscopic channel connecting a hot and a cold reservoir across the superfluid transition. The thermoelectric response results from a competition between density-driven diffusion from the cold to the hot reservoir and the channel favoring transport of energetic particles from hot to cold. We control the relative strength of both contributions to the thermoelectric response using an external optical potential in a nearly noninteracting and a strongly interacting system. Without interactions, the magnitude of the particle current can be tuned over a broad range but is restricted to flow from hot to cold in our parameter regime. Strikingly, strong interparticle interactions additionally reverse the direction of the current. We quantitatively model ab initio the noninteracting observations and qualitatively explain the interaction-assisted reversal by the reduction of entropy transport due to pairing correlations. Our work paves the way to studying the coupling of spin and heat in strongly correlated matter using spin-dependent optical techniques with cold atoms.

Publication status

published

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Volume

11 (2)

Pages / Article No.

21034

Publisher

American Physical Society

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Edition / version

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Organisational unit

03599 - Esslinger, Tilman / Esslinger, Tilman check_circle

Notes

Funding

182650 - Interplay between Topology, Interactions and Dissipation in Driven Quantum Many-Body Systems (SNF)
742579 - Mass, heat and spin transport in interlinked quantum gases (EC)
746150 - Topological states with Spin-Dependent potentials for ultracold lithium (EC)

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