Signature of the transition to a bound state in thermoelectric quantum transport

We study a quantum dot coupled to two semiconducting reservoirs, when the dot level and the electrochemical potential are both close to a band edge in the reservoirs. This is modelled with an exactly solvable Hamiltonian without interactions (the Fano-Anderson model). The model is known to show an abrupt transition as the dot-reservoir coupling is increased into the strong-coupling regime for a broad class of band structures. This transition involves an infinite-lifetime bound state appearing in the band gap. We find a signature of this transition in the continuum states of the model, visible as a discontinuous behaviour of the dot's transmission function. This can result in the steady-state DC electric and thermoelectric responses having a very strong dependence on coupling close to critical coupling. We give examples where the conductances and the thermoelectric power factor exhibit huge peaks at critical coupling, while the thermoelectric figure of merit ZT grows as the coupling approaches critical coupling, with a small dip at critical coupling. The critical coupling is thus a sweet spot for such thermoelectric devices, as the power output is maximal at this point without a significant change of efficiency.Comment: 14 pages (10 figs) final version (a few typos corrected

Bulk properties of nuclear matter in the relativistic Hartree approximation with cut-off regularization

A method of cut-off regularization is proposed to evaluate vacuum corrections in nuclear matter in the framework of the Hartree approximation. Bulk properties of nuclear matter calculated by this method are a good agreement with results analyzed by empirical values. The vacuum effect is quantitatively evaluated through a cut-off parameter and its role for saturation property and compressional properties is clarified.Comment: PACS numbers, 21.65.+f, 21.30.+