Temperature dependence of the normal-state Hall coefficient of a quasi-one-dimensional metal

We develop a systematic theory of the Hall effect in Q1D conductors in both weak and strong magnetic fields for a model where the electron relaxation time varies over the Fermi surface. At high temperatures, the Hall coefficient saturates at the value −β/ecn, where the dimensionless coefficient β is determined by the curvature of the longitudinal dispersion law of electrons, e the electron charge, c is the speed of light, and n is the hole concentration. At low temperatures, where a strong variation of the relaxation rate over the Fermi surface develops in the form of “hot spots”, the Hall coefficient becomes temperature-dependent and may change sign for a particular choice of the transverse dispersion law parameters. In our model, the sign changes in a weak, but not in a strong magnetic field.