Analytical expressions for the transport coefficients of icosahedral quasicrystals

Abstract

We investigate by analytical means the electronic transport properties of approximants and quasicrystals. The spectral resistivity is modeled by Lorentz functions in agreement with realistic ab initio calculations (linear muffin-tin orbital basis, Kubo-Greenwood formula) for low-order approximants. The analytical expressions for the transport coefficients compare well with both numerical calculations and experiments. Thus, the temperature-dependent conductivity, thermopower, electronic thermal conductivity, and Lorenz number of certain approximants and quasicrystals can be consistently explained.