Bulk thermal transport coefficients in a quantum Hall system and the fundamental difference between thermal and charge response

Abstract

We derive and calculate thermal transport coefficient for a quantum Hall system in the linear response regime, and show that they are exponentially small in the bulk, in contrast to the quantized value of the charge Hall coefficient, thus violating Wiedemann-Franz law. This corroborates earlier reports about the essential difference between the charge and thermal quantum Hall effect, that originates from the different behavior of the corresponding $U(1)$ and gravitational anomalies. We explicitly calculate the bulk currents when a temperature profile is applied within the bulk, and show that they are proportional to the second derivative of the respective gravitational potential (tidal force), and nonuniversal, in contrast to the charge current which is proportional to the first derivative of the electrochemical potential.