Physical Picture
Mobile energy carriers (for example conduction-band electrons in a semiconductor) will move along temperature gradients due to statistics and the relationship between temperature and kinetic energy. If there is a magnetic field transversal to the temperature gradient and the carriers are electrically charged, they experience a force perpendicular to their direction of motion (also the direction of the temperature gradient) and to the magnetic field. Thus, a perpendicular electric field is induced.
Read more about this topic: Nernst Effect
Famous quotes containing the words physical and/or picture:
“Patience, that blending of moral courage with physical timidity.”
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)
“No sacrifice was too great to get the film right, to get it accurate, true, and perfect. We weren’t important in our minds; only the picture was.”
—Lillian Gish (1896–1993)