Linear conductors are reciprocal: reversing the nonequilibrium forces they are coupled to (e.g., temperature differences) also reverses the response currents. Devices working as thermal diodes need to break this constriction by using nonlinearities, so the reversed currents are asymmetric (nonreciprocal) when the reservoir temperatures are exchanged. In this work, we describe the onset of interaction-induced nonlinearities in a quantum conductor, identifying thermalization and charging effects as responsible for measurable thermal and thermoelectric diodes. Furthermore, we show that realistic quantum-coherent conductors manifest what we name antireciprocal responses, with charge currents being unaffected by the reversal of temperatures. [Full article]
