In probing quantum materials, thermal transport is less appreciated than electrical transport. This article aims to show the pivotal role that thermal transport may play in understanding quantum materials—longitudinal thermal transport reflects itinerant quasiparticles, even in an electrical insulating phase, while transverse thermal transport such as the thermal Hall and Nernst effects is tightly linked to nontrivial topology. We discuss three examples—quantum spin liquids wherein thermal transport identifies its existence, superconductors wherein thermal transport reveals the superconducting gap structure, and topological Weyl semimetals where the anomalous Nernst effect is a consequence of nontrivial Berry curvature. We conclude with an outlook on the unique insights thermal transport may offer to probe a much broader category of quantum phenomena.

在探测量子材料中，热输运不如电输运。本文旨在展示热传输在理解量子材料中可能发挥的关键作用-纵向热传输即使在电绝缘相中也反映出流动的准粒子，而横向热传输（例如热霍尔和能斯特效应）则与非平凡拓扑紧密相关。我们讨论了三个示例-量子自旋液体，其中热传递确定了其存在；超导体，其中热传递揭示了超导间隙结构；以及拓扑韦尔半金属，其中异常的能斯特效应是非平凡的贝里曲率的结果。