New Frontiers in Electrical, Thermal, and Thermoelectric Transport Predictions with Jenny Coulter

The electrical, thermal, and thermoelectric transport properties of materials are critical to device design and the interpretation of experimental phenomena. Semi-classical Boltzmann transport (BTE) calculations can predict these quantities with impressive accuracy in traditional materials, however, progress in many conventional material applications has stalled as we hit ceilings in their performance. Quantum materials exhibit unique and technologically desirable many-body transport phenomena with the potential to break these limitations, manifesting exceptional conductivities, high-temperature superconductivity, and more; however, many-particle effects present long-standing computational barriers which render relevant predictions prohibitively difficult.

In this talk, I will demonstrate how a combination of high-performance computing and new theory unlock transport in complex and unexplored cases. These include hydrodynamic materials, where heat and charge transport occur essentially perfectly except at the boundaries of a device, ultra-high conductivity transition metal oxides, and topological flat-band materials for thermoelectric applications, in which beyond-BTE effects dominate transport. I will close with new formalism to predict electron-phonon interactions in correlated electron systems, enabling predictions of correlation-enhanced phonon-mediated resistivity. These developments demonstrate the combined power of computation and many-body physics to revolutionize transport theory, opening new frontiers in device-relevant quantum materials.

This lecture was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund.