SUPERCONDUCTING FLUCTUATION EFFECTS ON THE THERMOELECTRIC COEFFICIENTABOVE THE TRANSITION-TEMPERATURE

The quantum kinetic-equation method is applied to calculate the respon se of a metal to a temperature gradient above the superconducting tran sition temperature T(c). It is shown that the fluctuation correction t o the thermoelectric coefficient of a three-dimensional superconductor is nonsingular near T(c). The fluctuation correction is more importan t in low-dimensional systems: it diverges as ln(T-T(c)) in a thin film and as (T - T(c))1/2 in a filament. Applying the linear-response meth od, we confirm these results and prove microscopically the Onsager rel ation for this problem. We also demonstrate how more singular terms ob tained in earlier papers are canceled out by other terms representing the corrections to the heat current operator. The universal relation, independent on the electron mean free path, between the electric and h eat current operators for the fluctuating order parameter is obtained.