T -Square Dependence of the Electronic Thermal Resistivity of Metallic Strontium Titanate

The temperature dependence of the phase space for electron-electron (e-e) collisions leads to a T-square contribution to electrical resistivity of metals. Umklapp scattering is identified as the origin of momentum loss due to e-e scattering in dense metals. However, in dilute metals like lightly doped strontium titanate, the origin of T-square electrical resistivity in the absence of umklapp events is yet to be pinned down. Here, by separating electron and phonon contributions to heat transport, we extract the electronic thermal resistivity in niobium-doped strontium titanate and show that it also displays a T-square temperature dependence. Its amplitude correlates with the T-square electrical resistivity. The Wiedemann-Franz law strictly holds in the zero-temperature limit, but not at finite temperature, because the two T-square prefactors are different by a factor of ≈3, like in other Fermi liquids. Recalling the case of He3, we argue that T-square thermal resistivity does not require umklapp events. The approximate recovery of the Wiedemann-Franz law in the presence of disorder would account for a T-square electrical resistivity without umklapp. © 2023 American Physical Society.