Equilibration and universal heat conduction in fermi-pasta-ulam chains

Heat transport in an angular-momentum-conserving lattice

It is expected that the energy-diffusion propagator in a one-dimensional nonlinear lattice with three conserved quantities: energy, momentum, and stretch, consists of a central heat mode and two sound modes. The heat mode follows a Lévy distribution. Consequently, the heat diffusion is super, i.e., the second moment of the diffusion propagator diverges as t^{β} with β>1; and the heat conduction is anomalous, i.e., the heat conductivity is size dependent and diverges with size N by N^{α}, with α>0. In this paper, we study a one-dimensional lattice with two-dimensional transverse motions, in which the total angular momentum also conserves. More importantly, the diffusion of this conserved quantity is ballistic. Surprisingly, the above pictures and the values of the mentioned power exponents keep unchanged. The universality of the scalings is then further extended. On the other hand, the detailed strengths of heat transports are largely enhanced. Such a counterintuitive finding can be explained by the change of the phonon mean-free path of the lattices.

Stochastic dynamics of a nonlinear thermal circuit with bistability

Stochastic dynamics of a nonlinear thermal circuit is studied. Due to the existence of negative differential thermal resistance, there exist two stable steady states that satisfy both the continuity and stability conditions. The dynamics of such a system is governed by a stochastic equation which describes originally an overdamped Brownian particle that undergoes a double-well potential. Correspondingly, the finite time temperature distribution takes a double-peak profile and each peak is approximately Gaussian. Owing to the thermal fluctuation, the system is able to jump occasionally from one stable steady state to the other. The probability density distribution of the lifetime τ for each stable steady state follows a power-law decay τ^{-3/2} in the short-τ regime and an exponential decay e^{-τ/τ_{0}} in the long-τ regime. All these observations can be well explained analytically.

Stationary states of activity-driven harmonic chains

We study the stationary state of a chain of harmonic oscillators driven by two active reservoirs at the two ends. These reservoirs exert correlated stochastic forces on the boundary oscillators which eventually leads to a nonequilibrium stationary state of the system. We consider three most well-known dynamics for the active force, namely, the active Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, run-and-tumble process, and active Brownian process, all of which have exponentially decaying two-point temporal correlations but very different higher-order fluctuations. We show that, irrespective of the specific dynamics of the drive, the stationary velocity fluctuations are Gaussian in nature with a kinetic temperature which remains uniform in the bulk. Moreover, we find the emergence of an "equipartition of energy" in the bulk of the system-the bulk kinetic temperature equals the bulk potential temperature in the thermodynamic limit. We also calculate the stationary distribution of the instantaneous energy current in the bulk which always shows a logarithmic divergence near the origin and asymmetric exponential tails. The signatures of specific active driving become visible in the behavior of the oscillators near the boundary. This is most prominent for the RTP- and ABP-driven chains where the boundary velocity distributions become non-Gaussian and the current distribution has a finite cutoff.

Room temperature second sound in cumulene

Second sound is known as the thermal transport regime occurring in a wave-like fashion, usually identified in a limited number of materials only at cryogenic temperatures. Here we show that second sound in a μm-long carbon chain (cumulene) might occur even at room temperature. To this aim, we calibrate a many-body force field on the first principles calculated phonon dispersion relations of cumulene and, through molecular dynamics, we mimic laser-induced transient thermal grating experiments. We provide evidence that by tuning temperature as well as the space modulation of its initial profile we can reversibly drive the system from a wave-like to a diffusive-like thermal transport. By following three different theoretical methodologies (molecular dynamics, the Maxwell-Cattaneo-Vernotte equation, and heat transport microscopic theory) we estimate for cumulene a second sound velocity in the range of 2.4-3.2 km s-1.

Anomalous Hydrodynamics in a One-Dimensional Electronic Fluid

We construct multimode viscous hydrodynamics for one-dimensional spinless electrons. Depending on the scale, the fluid has six (shortest lengths), four (intermediate, exponentially broad regime), or three (asymptotically long scales) hydrodynamic modes. Interaction between hydrodynamic modes leads to anomalous scaling of physical observables and waves propagating in the fluid. In the four-mode regime, all modes are ballistic and acquire Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ)-like broadening with asymmetric power-law tails. "Heads" and "tails" of the waves contribute equally to thermal conductivity, leading to ω^{-1/3} scaling of its real part. In the three-mode regime, the system is in the universality class of a classical viscous fluid [O. Narayan and S. Ramaswamy, Anomalous Heat Conduction in One-Dimensional Momentum-Conserving Systems, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 200601 (2002).PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.89.200601, H. Spohn, Nonlinear fluctuating hydrodynamics for anharmonic chains, J. Stat. Phys. 154, 1191 (2014).JSTPBS0022-471510.1007/s10955-014-0933-y]. Self-interaction of the sound modes results in a KPZ-like shape, while the interaction with the heat mode results in asymmetric tails. The heat mode is governed by Levy flight distribution, whose power-law tails give rise to ω^{-1/3} scaling of heat conductivity.

Heat conduction in a three-dimensional momentum-conserving fluid

Size dependence of energy transport and the effects of reduced dimensionality on transport coefficients are of key importance for understanding nonequilibrium properties of matter on the nanoscale. Here, we perform nonequilibrium and equilibrium simulations of heat conduction in a three-dimensional (3D) fluid with the multiparticle collision dynamics, interacting with two thermal walls. We find that the bulk 3D momentum-conserving fluid has a finite nondiverging thermal conductivity. However, for large aspect ratios of the simulation box, a crossover from 3D to one-dimensional (1D) abnormal behavior of the thermal conductivity occurs. In this case, we demonstrate a transition from normal to abnormal transport by a suitable decomposition of the energy current. These results not only provide a direct verification of Fourier's law, but also further confirm the validity of existing theories for 3D fluids. Moreover, they indicate that abnormal heat transport persists also for almost 1D fluids over a large range of sizes.

Kapitza thermal resistance in linear and nonlinear chain models: Isotopic defect

Kapitza resistance in the chain models with internal defects is considered. For the case of the linear chain, the exact analytic solution for the boundary resistance is derived for arbitrary linear time-independent conservative inclusion or defect. A simple case of isolated isotopic defects is explored in more detail. Contrary to the bulk conductivity in the linear chain, the Kapitza resistance is finite. However, the universal thermodynamic limit does not exist in this case. In other terms, the exact value of the resistance is not uniquely defined, and depends on the way of approaching the infinite lengths of the chain fragments. By this reason, and also due to the explicit dependence on the parameters of the thermostats, the resistance cannot be considered as a local property of the defect. Asymptotic scaling behavior of the heat flux in the case of very heavy defect is explored and compared to the nonlinear counterparts; similarities in the scaling behavior are revealed. For the lightweight isotopic defect in the linear chain, one encounters a typical dip of the temperature profile, related to weak excitation of the localized mode in the attenuation zone. If the nonlinear interactions are included, this dip can still appear at a relatively short timescale, with subsequent elimination due to the nonlinear interactions. This observation implies that even in the nonlinear chains, the linear dynamics can predict the main features of the short-time evolution of the thermal profile if the temperature is low enough.

Spatial configurations and temperature profiles in nonequilibrium steady state of two-species trapped ion systems

We study Coulomb crystals containing two ion species simultaneously confined in radio frequency traps and coupled to different thermal reservoirs located in two separate regions. We use a three-dimensional model to simulate the trapped bicrystal and show in a numerically rigorous manner the effects of the mass dependence of the trapping frequencies on the underlying nonequilibrium dynamics and the temperature profiles. By solving the classical Langevin equations of motion, we obtain the spatial probability densities of the two ion species and the kinetic temperature profiles across the axial direction of the trap in the nonequilibrium steady state. We analyze trapping conditions leading to bicrystals that exhibit ion conformations ranging from a linear chain of alternating ion species to two- and three-dimensional configurations. The results evidence the spatial segregation of the two ion species due to the mass dependence of the trapping frequencies and the increase of ion delocalization for heavier ion species and/or weaker trapping confinements. We also show the correlation between the increase of the temperature gradient in the bulk and this enhancement of ion delocalization through the trap.

Anomalous energy diffusion in two-dimensional nonlinear lattices

Heat transport in one-dimensional (1D) momentum-conserved lattices is generally assumed to be anomalous, thus yielding a power-law divergence of thermal conductivity with system length. However, whether heat transport in a two-dimensional (2D) system is anomalous or not is still up for debate because of the difficulties involved in experimental measurements or due to the insufficiently large simulation cell size. Here we simulate energy and momentum diffusion in the 2D nonlinear lattices using the method of fluctuation correlation functions. Our simulations confirm that energy diffusion in the 2D momentum-conserved lattices is anomalous and can be well described by the Lévy-stable distribution. As is expected, we verify that 2D nonlinear lattices with on-site potentials exhibit normal energy diffusion, independent of the dimension. Contrary to the hypothesis of a 1D system, we further clarify that anomalous heat transport in the 2D momentum-conserved system cannot be corroborated by the momentum superdiffusion any longer. Our findings offer some valuable insights into mechanisms of thermal transport in 2D system.

Thermal Transport in One-Dimensional Electronic Fluids

We study thermal conductivity for one-dimensional electronic fluids. The many-body Hilbert space is partitioned into bosonic and fermionic sectors that carry the thermal current in parallel. For times shorter than the bosonic umklapp time, the momenta of Bose and Fermi components are separately conserved, giving rise to the ballistic heat propagation and imaginary heat conductivity proportional to T/iω. The real part of thermal conductivity is controlled by decay processes of fermionic and bosonic excitations, leading to several regimes in frequency dependence. At lowest frequencies or longest length scales, the thermal transport is dominated by Lévy flights of low-momentum bosons that lead to a fractional scaling, ω^{-1/3} and L^{1/3}, of heat conductivity with the frequency ω and system size L, respectively.

Temperature-dependent divergence of thermal conductivity in momentum-conserving one-dimensional lattices with asymmetric potential

In this study we used a nonequilibrium simulation method to investigate the temperature dependent divergence of thermal conductivity in a one-dimensional momentum conserving system with an asymmetric double well nearest-neighbor interaction potential. We show that across all temperatures thermal conductivity exhibits power-law divergence with the chain length and the value of the divergence exponent (α) depends on the temperature of the system. At low and high temperatures α reaches close to ∼0.5 and ∼0.33, respectively. Whereas in the intermediate temperature the divergence of thermal conductivity with the chain length saturates with α∼0.07. Subsequent analysis showed that the estimated value of α in the intermediate temperature may not have reached its thermodynamic limit. Further calculations of local α revealed that its approach towards the thermodynamic limit is crucially dependent on the temperature of the system. At low and high temperatures local α reaches its thermodynamic limits in shorter chain lengths. On the contrary, in the case of intermediate temperature its progress towards the asymptotic limit is nonmonotonic.

Derivation of fluctuating hydrodynamics and crossover from diffusive to anomalous transport in a hard-particle gas

A recently developed nonlinear fluctuating hydrodynamics theory has been quite successful in describing various features of anomalous energy transport. However, the diffusion and the noise terms present in this theory are not derived from microscopic descriptions but rather added phenomenologically. We here derive these hydrodynamic equations with explicit calculation of the diffusion and noise terms in a one-dimensional model. We show that in this model the energy current scales anomalously with system size L as ∼L^{-2/3} in the leading order with a diffusive correction of order ∼L^{-1}. The crossover length ℓ_{c} from diffusive to anomalous transport is expressed in terms of microscopic parameters. Our theoretical predictions are verified numerically.

Solitons as candidates for energy carriers in Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattices

Currently, effective phonons (renormalized or interacting phonons) rather than solitary waves (for short, solitons) are regarded as the energy carriers in nonlinear lattices. In this work, by using the approximate soliton solutions of the corresponding equations of motion and adopting the Boltzmann distribution for these solitons, the average velocities of solitons are obtained and are compared with the sound velocities of energy transfer. Excellent agreements with the numerical results and the predictions of other existing theories are shown in both the symmetric Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-β lattices and the asymmetric Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-αβ lattices. These clearly indicate that solitons are suitable candidates for energy carriers in Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattices. In addition, the root-mean-square velocity of solitons can be obtained from the effective phonons theory.

Observing golden-mean universality class in the scaling of thermal transport

We address the issue of whether the golden-mean [ψ=(sqrt[5]+1)/2≃1.618] universality class, as predicted by several theoretical models, can be observed in the dynamical scaling of thermal transport. Remarkably, we show strong evidence that ψ appears to be the scaling exponent of heat mode correlation in a purely quartic anharmonic chain. This observation seems to somewhat deviate from the previous expectation and we explain it by the unusual slow decay of the cross correlation between heat and sound modes. Whenever the cubic anharmonicity is included, this cross correlation gradually dies out and another universality class with scaling exponent γ=5/3, as commonly predicted by theories, seems recovered. However, this recovery is accompanied by two interesting phase transition processes characterized by a change of symmetry of the potential and a clear variation of the dynamic structure factor, respectively. Due to these transitions, an additional exponent close to γ≃1.580 emerges. All this evidence suggests that, to gain a full prediction of the scaling of thermal transport, more ingredients should be taken into account.

One-dimensional superdiffusive heat propagation induced by optical phonon-phonon interactions

One-dimensional anomalous heat propagation is usually characterized by a Lévy walk superdiffusive spreading function with two side peaks located on the fronts due to the finite velocity of acoustic phonons. In the case when the acoustic phonons vanish, e.g., due to the phonon-lattice interactions such that the system's momentum is not conserved, the side peaks will disappear and a normal Gaussian diffusive heat-propagating behavior will be observed. Here we show that there exists another new type of superdiffusive, non-Gaussian heat propagation but without side peaks in a typical nonacoustic, momentum-nonconserving system. It implies that thermal transport in this system disobeys the Fourier law, in clear contrast with the existing theoretical predictions. The underlying mechanism is related to an effect of optical phonon-phonon interactions. These findings may open a new avenue for further exploring thermal transport in low dimensions.

Renormalized vibrations and normal energy transport in 1d FPU-like discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equations

For one-dimensional (1d) nonlinear atomic lattices, the models with on-site nonlinearities such as the Frenkel-Kontorova (FK) and ϕ⁴ lattices have normal energy transport while the models with inter-site nonlinearities such as the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-β (FPU-β) lattice exhibit anomalous energy transport. The 1d Discrete Nonlinear Schrödinger (DNLS) equations with on-site nonlinearities has been previously studied and normal energy transport has also been found. Here, we investigate the energy transport of 1d FPU-like DNLS equations with inter-site nonlinearities. Extended from the FPU-β lattice, the renormalized vibration theory is developed for the FPU-like DNLS models and the predicted renormalized vibrations are verified by direct numerical simulations same as the FPU-β lattice. However, the energy diffusion processes are explored and normal energy transport is observed for the 1d FPU-like DNLS models, which is different from their atomic lattice counterpart of FPU-β lattice. The reason might be that, unlike nonlinear atomic lattices where models with on-site nonlinearities have one less conserved quantities than the models with inter-site nonlinearities, the DNLS models with on-site or inter-site nonlinearities have the same number of conserved quantities as the result of gauge transformation.

Heat Transport via Low-Dimensional Systems with Broken Time-Reversal Symmetry

We consider heat transport via systems with broken time-reversal symmetry. We apply magnetic fields to the one-dimensional charged particle systems with transverse motions. The standard momentum conservation is not satisfied. To focus on this effect clearly, we introduce a solvable model. We exactly demonstrate that the anomalous transport with a new exponent can appear. We numerically show the violation of the standard relation between the power-law decay in the equilibrium correlation and the diverging exponent of the thermal conductivity in the open system.

Long-time instability in the Runge-Kutta algorithm for a Nosé-Hoover heat bath of a harmonic chain and its stabilization

In this paper, we investigate the Runge-Kutta algorithm for the Nosé-Hoover heat bath of a harmonic chain. The Runge-Kutta algorithm is found to be unstable in long-time calculations, with the system temperature growing exponentially. The growth rate increases if time step size is chosen larger. By analyzing the Fourier spectra in both space (wave number) and time (frequency), we discover that the growth is caused by spurious energy accumulation, particularly at the largest wave number. Such accumulation may be explained by von Neumann analysis for an infinite chain, with the nonlinear heat bath being ignored. Furthermore, we propose to add a filter to remove excessive energy, which effectively stabilizes the algorithm.

Heat perturbation spreading in the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-β system with next-nearest-neighbor coupling: Competition between phonon dispersion and nonlinearity

We employ the heat perturbation correlation function to study thermal transport in the one-dimensional Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-β lattice with both nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor couplings. We find that such a system bears a peculiar phonon dispersion relation, and thus there exists a competition between phonon dispersion and nonlinearity that can strongly affect the heat correlation function's shape and scaling property. Specifically, for small and large anharmoncities, the scaling laws are ballistic and superdiffusive types, respectively, which are in good agreement with the recent theoretical predictions; whereas in the intermediate range of the nonlinearity, we observe an unusual multiscaling property characterized by a nonmonotonic delocalization process of the central peak of the heat correlation function. To understand these multiscaling laws, we also examine the momentum perturbation correlation function and find a transition process with the same turning point of the anharmonicity as that shown in the heat correlation function. This suggests coupling between the momentum transport and the heat transport, in agreement with the theoretical arguments of mode cascade theory.

Heat transport along a chain of coupled quantum harmonic oscillators

I study the heat transport properties of a chain of coupled quantum harmonic oscillators in contact at its ends with two heat reservoirs at distinct temperatures. My approach is based on the use of an evolution equation for the density operator which is a canonical quantization of the classical Fokker-Planck-Kramers equation. I set up the evolution equation for the covariances and obtain the stationary covariances at the stationary states from which I determine the thermal conductance in closed form when the interparticle interaction is small. The conductance is finite in the thermodynamic limit implying an infinite thermal conductivity.

Anomalous temperature-dependent heat transport in one-dimensional momentum-conserving systems with soft-type interparticle interaction

We numerically investigate the heat transport problem in a one-dimensional momentum-conserving lattice with a soft-type (ST) anharmonic interparticle interaction. It is found that with the increase of the system's temperature, while the introduction of ST anharmonicity softens phonons and decreases their velocities, this type of nonlinearity like its hard type (HT) counterpart, can still not be able to fully damp the longest wavelength phonons. Therefore, a usual anomalous temperature dependence of heat transport with certain scaling properties similarly to those shown in the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-β-like systems with HT interactions can be seen. Our detailed examination from simulations verifies this temperature-dependent behavior well.

Thermal conductance of one-dimensional materials calculated with typical lattice models

We show through calculations on typical lattice models that thermal conductance σ can well describe the near-equilibrium thermal transport property of one-dimensional materials of finite length, which presents a situation often met in the application of nanoscale devices. The σ generally contains contributions from the material itself and those from the thermal reservoirs. The intrinsic σ of the material, i.e., the one with the fewest external influences, can be efficiently calculated with the help of the "blackbody"-like nonreflective thermal reservoir, either through the nonequilibrium method or through the Green-Kubo-type formula. σ thus calculated would be helpful to guide the design of thermal management and heat control in nanoscale devices.

Pressure-induced recovery of Fourier's law in one-dimensional momentum-conserving systems

We report the two typical models of normal heat conduction in one-dimensional momentum-conserving systems. They show the Arrhenius and the non-Arrhenius temperature dependence. We construct the two corresponding phenomenologies, transition-state theory of thermally activated dissociation and the pressure-induced crossover between two fixed points in fluctuating hydrodynamics. Compressibility yields the ballistic fixed point, whose scaling is observed in Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) β lattices.

One-Particle Representation of Heat Conduction Described within the Scope of the Second Law

The Carnot cycle and its deduction of maximum conversion efficiency of heat inputted and outputted isothermally at different temperatures necessitated the construction of isothermal and adiabatic pathways within the cycle that were mechanically "reversible", leading eventually to the Kelvin-Clausius development of the entropy function S with differential dS = dq/T such that [symbol: see text]C dS = 0 where the heat absorption occurs at the isothermal paths of the elementary Carnot cycle. Another required condition is that the heat transfer processes take place infinitely slowly and "reversibly", implying that rates of transfer are not explicitly featured in the theory. The definition of 'heat' as that form of energy that is transferred as a result of a temperature difference suggests that the local mode of transfer of "heat" in the isothermal segments of the pathway implies a Fourier-like heat conduction mechanism which is apparently irreversible, leading to an increase in entropy of the combined reservoirs at either end of the conducting material, and which is deemed reversible mechanically. These paradoxes are circumvented here by first clarifying the terms used before modeling heat transfer as a thermodynamically reversible but mechanically irreversible process and applied to a one dimensional atomic lattice chain of interacting particles subjected to a temperature difference exemplifying Fourier heat conduction. The basis of a "recoverable trajectory" i.e. that which follows a zero entropy trajectory is identified. The Second Law is strictly maintained in this development. A corollary to this zero entropy trajectory is the generalization of the Zeroth law for steady state non-equilibrium systems with varying temperature, and thus to a statement about "equilibrium" in steady state non-thermostatic conditions. An energy transfer rate term is explicitly identified for each particle and agrees quantitatively (and independently) with the rate of heat absorbed at the reservoirs held at different temperatures and located at the two ends of the lattice chain in MD simulations, where all energy terms in the simulation refer to a single particle interacting with its neighbors. These results validate the theoretical model and provides the necessary boundary conditions (for instance with regard to temperature differentials and force fields) that thermodynamical variables must comply with to satisfy the conditions for a recoverable trajectory, and thus determines the solution of the differential and integral equations that are used to model these processes. These developments and results, if fully pursued would imply that not only can the Carnot cycle be viewed as describing a local process of energy-work conversion by a single interacting particle which feature rates of energy transfer and conversion not possible in the classical Carnot development, but that even irreversible local processes might be brought within the scope of this cycle, implying a unified treatment of thermodynamically (i) irreversible (ii) reversible (iii) isothermal and (iv) adiabatic processes by conflating the classically distinct concept of work and heat energy into a single particle interactional process. A resolution to the fundamental and long-standing conjecture of Benofy and Quay concerning the Fourier principle is one consequence of the analysis.

Effects of interaction symmetry on delocalization and energy transport in one-dimensional disordered lattices

We study effects of interaction symmetry in one-dimensional, momentum-conserving disordered lattices. It is found that asymmetric and symmetric interparticle interactions may result in significant difference: localized modes can be delocalized by very weak asymmetric interactions but survive much stronger symmetric interactions. Moreover, in the delocalization regime, asymmetric and symmetric interactions also have qualitatively different effects on transport: the former (the latter) may lead to a fast decaying (slow power-law decaying) heat current correlation function and in turn a convergent (divergent) heat conductivity. A method for detecting delocalization in systems at a nonzero temperature is proposed as well.

Interfacial thermal conduction and negative temperature jump in one-dimensional lattices

We study the thermal boundary conduction in one-dimensional harmonic and ϕ^{4} lattices, both of which consist of two segments coupled by a harmonic interaction. For the ballistic interfacial heat transport through the harmonic lattice, we use both theoretical calculation and molecular dynamics simulation to study the heat flux and temperature jump at the interface as to gain insights into the Kapitza resistance at the atomic scale. In the weak coupling regime, the heat current is proportional to the square of the coupling strength for the harmonic model as well as anharmonic models. Interestingly, there exists a negative temperature jump between the interfacial particles in particular parameter regimes. A nonlinear response of the boundary temperature jump to the externally applied temperature difference in the ϕ^{4} lattice is observed. To understand the anomalous result, we then extend our studies to a model in which the interface is represented by a relatively small segment with gradually changing spring constants and find that the negative temperature jump still exists. Finally, we show that the local velocity distribution at the interface is so close to the Gaussian distribution that the existence or absence of a local equilibrium state is unable to be determined by numerics in this way.

Universality classes for thermal transport in one-dimensional oscillator systems

Two universality classes for thermal transport in one-dimensional oscillator systems are proposed. In class A the asymptotic behavior of the frequency dependent thermal conductivity is κ(ω)∼ω-1/2, whereas the bulk viscosity is finite. In class B the asymptotic behavior of the thermal conductivity is κ∼ω-α, where α<0.4, and the frequency dependent bulk viscosity has the same asymptotic behavior as the thermal conductivity. It is further proposed that the criterion for membership in class A is that the ratio of specific heat capacities γ≡cP/cV=1. A one-dimensional cubic-plus-quartic coupled oscillator is examined at conditions for which γ=1 but P≠0. It is found that the system belongs to class A, in agreement with the proposed criterion. Additionally, it is proposed that examination of whether a system has a well-defined bulk Prandtl number is a more reliable way of determining whether a system is in class A or class B.

Predicting and identifying finite-size effects in current spectra of one-dimensional oscillator chains

The existence of a finite-size effect in one-dimensional oscillator systems causing the energy current power spectrum to saturate to a constant value at low frequencies is discussed. It is shown that a mode-coupling theory presented in earlier papers can be used to predict the frequency of onset of this finite-size effect. This can be used by researchers to plan simulations with large enough numbers of particles to avoid the presence of this finite-size effect.

A deterministic thermostat for controlling temperature using all degrees of freedom

We propose a new thermostat that uses all the phase space variables for controlling temperature and thus differs from the existing thermostats that control either the kinetic (e.g., Nose Hoover) or the configurational (e.g., Braga Travis) degrees of freedom. Our thermostat is a special case of the set of equations proposed by Kusnezov et al. [Ann. Phys. 204, 155 (1990)] and is derived using the extended system method. We show that it generates a canonical phase-space distribution. The performance of the thermostat is compared with those of Nose-Hoover kinetic thermostat and Braga-Travis configurational thermostat for a system (i) in thermal equilibrium, (ii) subjected to sudden temperature changes, and (iii) in steady state non-equilibrium under thermal conduction. We observe that all three thermostats perform similarly for systems in equilibrium. However, our thermostat performs the best in the thermal conduction problem by generating a consistent temperature profile across the conduction length. We expect this thermostat to be useful in other non-equilibrium scenarios as well.

Nonintegrability and the Fourier heat conduction law

We study in momentum-conserving systems, how nonintegrable dynamics may affect thermal transport properties. As illustrating examples, two one-dimensional (1D) diatomic chains, representing 1D fluids and lattices, respectively, are numerically investigated. In both models, the two species of atoms are assigned two different masses and are arranged alternatively. The systems are nonintegrable unless the mass ratio is one. We find that when the mass ratio is slightly different from one, the heat conductivity may keep significantly unchanged over a certain range of the system size and as the mass ratio tends to one, this range may expand rapidly. These results establish a new connection between the macroscopic thermal transport properties and the underlying dynamics.

Temperature dependence of heat conduction in the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-β lattice with next-nearest-neighbor coupling

We show numerically that introducing the next-nearest-neighbor interactions (of appropriate strength) into the one-dimensional (1D) Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-β (FPU-β) lattice can result in an unusual, nonmonotonic temperature dependent divergence behavior in a wide temperature range, which is in clear contrast to the universal divergence manner independent of temperature as suggested previously in the conventional 1D FPU-β models with nearest-neighbor (NN) coupling only. We also discuss the underlying mechanism of this finding by analyzing the temperature variations of the properties of discrete breathers, especially that with frequencies having the intraband components. The results may provide useful information for establishing the connection between the macroscopic heat transport properties and the underlying dynamics in general 1D systems with interactions beyond NN couplings.

Numerical test of hydrodynamic fluctuation theory in the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam chain

Recent work has developed a nonlinear hydrodynamic fluctuation theory for a chain of coupled anharmonic oscillators governing the conserved fields, namely, stretch, momentum, and energy. The linear theory yields two propagating sound modes and one diffusing heat mode, all three with diffusive broadening. In contrast, the nonlinear theory predicts that, at long times, the sound mode correlations satisfy Kardar-Parisi-Zhang scaling, while the heat mode correlations have Lévy-walk scaling. In the present contribution we report on molecular dynamics simulations of Fermi-Pasta-Ulam chains to compute various spatiotemporal correlation functions and compare them with the predictions of the theory. We obtain very good agreement in many cases, but also some deviations.

Cross-correlations between phonon modes in anharmonic oscillator chains: role in heat transport

We have computed current-current correlation functions in chains of anharmonic oscillators described by various models (FPU-β, FPU-αβ, ϕ4), considering both the total current and the currents associated with individual phonon modes, which are important in view of the Green-Kubo relation for heat conductivity. Our simulations show that, contrary to the common hypothesis, there are, under some circumstances, significant correlations between neighboring modes. These cross-mode correlations are the dominant contribution to the conductivity in the low anharmonicity regime. The inverse of the timescale over which they are significant, 1/τc, is related to the anharmonicity level in a way similar to the largest Lyapunov exponent, suggesting that the two quantities are related. Cross-mode correlations exist in both anomalous and regular heat-conducting systems although we are unable to observe a transition to the independent-mode regime in the latter case.

Finite-size effects on current correlation functions

We study why the calculation of current correlation functions (CCFs) still suffers from finite-size effects even when the periodic boundary condition is taken. Two important one-dimensional, momentum-conserving systems are investigated as examples. Intriguingly, it is found that the state of a system recurs in the sense of microcanonical ensemble average, and such recurrence may result in oscillations in CCFs. Meanwhile, we find that the sound mode collisions induce an extra time decay in a current so that its correlation function decays faster (slower) in a smaller (larger) system. Based on these two unveiled mechanisms, a procedure for correctly evaluating the decay rate of a CCF is proposed, with which our analysis suggests that the global energy CCF decays as ∼ t(-2/3) in the diatomic hard-core gas model and in a manner close to ∼ t(-1/2) in the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-β model.

Fourier's law from a chain of coupled planar harmonic oscillators under energy-conserving noise

We study the transport of heat along a chain of particles interacting through a harmonic potential and subject to heat reservoirs at its ends. Each particle has two degrees of freedom and is subject to a stochastic noise that produces infinitesimal changes in the velocity while keeping the kinetic energy unchanged. This is modeled by means of a Langevin equation with multiplicative noise. We show that the introduction of this energy-conserving stochastic noise leads to Fourier's law. By means of an approximate solution that becomes exact in the thermodynamic limit, we also show that the heat conductivity κ behaves as κ = aL/(b + λL) for large values of the intensity λ of the energy-conserving noise and large chain sizes L. Hence, we conclude that in the thermodynamic limit the heat conductivity is finite and given by κ = a/λ.

Validity of Fourier's law in one-dimensional momentum-conserving lattices with asymmetric interparticle interactions

We have numerically studied heat conduction in a few one-dimensional momentum-conserving lattices with asymmetric interparticle interactions by the nonequilibrium heat bath method, the equilibrium Green-Kubo method, and the heat current power spectra analysis. Very strong finite-size effects are clearly observed. Such effects make the heat conduction obey a Fourier-like law in a wide range of lattice lengths. However, in yet longer lattice lengths, the heat conductivity regains its power-law divergence. Therefore, the power-law divergence of the heat conductivity in the thermodynamic limit is verified, as is expected by many existing theories.

Heat transport enhanced by optical phonons in one-dimensional anharmonic lattices with alternating bonds

In lattice systems, the effects of optical phonons on heat transport are usually neglected due to their relatively small group velocities compared with acoustic phonons, or even assumed to be negative because introducing optical phonons may simultaneously reduce the group velocities of acoustic phonons. In order to well understand the role played by optical phonons, we propose a one-dimensional anharmonic lattice model with alternating interactions, where the optical phonons can be conveniently tuned. We find that in contrast to previous studies, the optical phonons (in coordination with the nonlinearities) can enhance heat transport in the thermodynamical limit, suggesting that optical phonons can also play an active role. The underlying mechanism is related to the effects of two kinds of nonlinear excitations, i.e., the optical and the gap discrete breathers (DBs). These DBs release energy and in turn facilitate heat transport.

Fourier's law from a chain of coupled anharmonic oscillators under energy-conserving noise

We analyze the transport of heat along a chain of particles interacting through anharmonic potentials consisting of quartic terms in addition to harmonic quadratic terms and subject to heat reservoirs at its ends. Each particle is also subject to an impulsive shot noise with exponentially distributed waiting times whose effect is to change the sign of its velocity, thus conserving the energy of the chain. We show that the introduction of this energy-conserving stochastic noise leads to Fourier's law. The behavior of the heat conductivity for small intensities of the shot noise and large system sizes is found to obey a finite-size scaling relation. We also show that the heat conductivity is not constant but is an increasing monotonic function of temperature.

Scaling theory of heat transport in quasi-one-dimensional disordered harmonic chains

We introduce a variant of the banded random matrix ensemble and show, using detailed numerical analysis and theoretical arguments, that the phonon heat current in disordered quasi-one-dimensional lattices obeys a one-parameter scaling law. The resulting β function indicates that an anomalous Fourier law is applicable in the diffusive regime, while in the localization regime the heat current decays exponentially with the sample size. Our approach opens a new way to investigate the effects of Anderson localization in heat conduction based on the powerful ideas of scaling theory.

Logarithmic divergent thermal conductivity in two-dimensional nonlinear lattices

Heat conduction in three two-dimensional (2D) momentum-conserving nonlinear lattices are numerically calculated via both nonequilibrium heat-bath and equilibrium Green-Kubo algorithms. It is expected by mainstream theories that heat conduction in such 2D lattices is divergent and the thermal conductivity κ increases with lattice length N logarithmically. Our simulations for the purely quartic lattice firmly confirm it. However, very robust finite-size effects are observed in the calculations for the other two lattices, which well explain some existing studies and imply the extreme difficulties in observing their true asymptotic behaviors with affordable computation resources.

Crossover from Fermi-Pasta-Ulam to normal diffusive behavior in heat conduction through open anharmonic lattices

We study heat conduction in one-, two-, and three-dimensional anharmonic lattices connected to stochastic Langevin heat baths. The interatomic potential of the lattices is double-well type, i.e., V(DW)(x)=k(2)x(2)/2+k(4)x(4)/4 with k(2)<0 and k(4)>0. We observe two different temperature regimes of transport: a high-temperature regime where asymptotic length dependence of nonequilibrium steady state heat current is similar to the well-known Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattices with an interatomic potential, V(FPU)(x)=k(2)x(2)/2+k(4)x(4)/4 with k(2),k(4)>0, and a low-temperature regime where heat conduction is most likely diffusive normal, satisfying Fourier's law. We present our simulation results for different temperature regimes in all dimensions.

Thermal conduction and interface effects in nanoscale Fermi-Pasta-Ulam conductors

We perform classical nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations to calculate heat flow through a microscopic junction connecting two larger reservoirs. In contrast to earlier papers, we also include the reservoirs in the simulated region to study the effect of the bulk-nanostructure interfaces and the bulk conductance. The scalar Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) model is used to describe the effects of anharmonic interactions in a simple manner. The temperature profile close to the junction in the low-temperature limit is shown to exhibit strong directional features that fade out when temperature increases. Simulating both the FPU chain and the two bulk regions is also shown to eliminate the nonmonotonous temperature variations found for simpler geometries and models. We show that, with sufficiently large reservoirs, the temperature profile in the chain does not depend on the details of thermalization used at the boundaries.

Normal heat conduction in one-dimensional momentum conserving lattices with asymmetric interactions

We study heat conduction behavior of one-dimensional lattices with asymmetric, momentum conserving interparticle interactions. We find that with a certain degree of interaction asymmetry, the heat conductivity measured in nonequilibrium stationary states converges in the thermodynamical limit. Our analysis suggests that the mass gradient resulting from asymmetric interactions may provide a phonon scattering mechanism in addition to that caused by nonlinear interactions.

Nonequilibrium stationary state of a harmonic crystal with alternating masses

We analyze the nonequilibrium steady states (NESS) of a one-dimensional harmonic chain of N atoms with alternating masses connected to heat reservoirs at unequal temperatures. We find that the temperature profile defined through the local kinetic energy T(j)≡<pj2>/mj oscillates with period two in the bulk of the system. Depending on boundary conditions, either the heavier or the lighter particles in the bulk are hotter. We obtain explicit integral expressions for the bulk temperature profile and steady state current in the limit N→∞. These depend on whether N is odd or even. We also study similar temperature oscillations in the NESS of systems with noise in the dynamics. These die out as N→∞.

Nonuniversal heat conduction of one-dimensional lattices

For one-dimensional nonlinear lattices with momentum conserving interparticle interactions, intensive studies have suggested that the heat conductivity κ diverges with the system size L as κ~L(α) and the value of α is universal. But in the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-β lattices with nearest-neighbor (NN) and next-nearest-neighbor (NNN) coupling, we find that α strongly depends on γ, the ratio of the NNN coupling to the NN coupling. The correlation between the γ-dependent heat conduction behavior and the in-band discrete breathers is also analyzed.

Negative thermal conductivity of chains of rotors with mechanical forcing

We consider chains of rotors subjected to both thermal and mechanical forcings in a nonequilibrium steady state. Unusual nonlinear profiles of temperature and velocities are observed in the system. In particular, the temperature is maximal in the center, which is an indication of the nonlocal behavior of the system. Despite this uncommon behavior, local equilibrium holds for long enough chains. Our numerical results also show that when the mechanical forcing is strong enough, the energy current can be increased by an inverse temperature gradient. This counterintuitive result again reveals the complexity of nonequilibrium states.

Universality classes for phonon relaxation and thermal conduction in one-dimensional vibrational systems

We study phonon relaxation in chains of particles coupled through polynomial-type pair-interaction potentials and obeying quantum dynamics. We present detailed calculations for the sixth-order potential and find that the wave-vector-dependent relaxation rate follows a power-law behavior, Γ(q)∼q(δ), with δ=5/3, which is identical to that of the fourth-order potential. We argue through diagrammatic analysis that this is a generic feature of even-power potentials. Our earlier analysis has shown that δ=3/2 when the leading-order term in the nonlinear potential is odd, suggesting that there are two universality classes for the phonon relaxation rates dependent on a simple property of the potential. This implies that the thermal conductivity κ which diverges as a function of chain size N as κ∝N(α) also has two universal behaviors, in that α=1-1/δ as follows from a finite-size argument. We support these arguments by numerical calculations of conductivity for chains obeying classical dynamics for polynomial potentials of some even and odd powers.

Heat conduction in one-dimensional aperiodic quantum Ising chains

The heat conductivity of nonperiodic quantum Ising chains whose ends are connected with heat baths at different temperatures are studied numerically by solving the Lindblad master equation. The chains are subjected to a uniform transverse field h, while the exchange coupling J{m} between the nearest-neighbor spins takes the two values J{A} and J{B} arranged in Fibonacci, generalized Fibonacci, Thue-Morse, and period-doubling sequences. We calculate the energy-density profile and energy current of the resulting nonequilibrium steady states to study the heat-conducting behavior of finite but large systems. Although these nonperiodic quantum Ising chains are integrable, it is clearly found that energy gradients exist in all chains and the energy currents appear to scale as the system size <Q> ~N{α}. By increasing the ratio of couplings, the exponent α can be modulated from α > -1 to α < -1 corresponding to the nontrivial transition from the abnormal heat transport to the heat insulator. The influences of the temperature gradient and the magnetic field to heat conduction have also been discussed.

Heat conduction in a three-dimensional momentum-conserving anharmonic lattice

Heat conduction in three-dimensional anharmonic lattices was numerically studied by the Green-Kubo theory. For a given lattice width W, a dimensional crossover is generally observed to occur at a W-dependent threshold of the lattice length. Lattices shorter than W will display a 3D behavior while lattices longer than W will display a 1D behavior. In the 3D regime, the heat current autocorrelation function was found to show a power-law decay as a function of the time lag τ as τ^{β} with β=-1.2. This indicates normal heat conduction. However, the decay exponent deviates significantly from the conventional theoretical value of β=-1.5. A flat power spectrum S(ω) of the global heat current in the low-frequency limit was also observed in the 3D regime. This provides not only an alternative verification of normal heat conduction but also a clear physical insight into its origin.

Heat conduction in two-dimensional disk models

We study the heat conduction problem in two-dimensional (2D) lattice models of disk shape consisting of two circular heat baths with radius r1 and r2 (r1<r2) , located concentrically at the center and the edge of the disk. Compared with the lattice models of rectangle shape adopted in previous studies, the main advantage of the disk models is that they have an unambiguous 2D dimensionality. The Fermi-Pasta-Ulam interaction of β type and the ϕ4 system are considered, respectively, as momentum conserving and nonconserving prototypes. In the former we find that in the range of the system size investigated, the heat conductivity κ depends on the system size L=r2-r1 as κ∼(ln L)α with α being a function of r1/r2. In particular, in the limit of r1/r2→1 we have α→1 , i.e., a logarithmic dependence of κ on L , which is in agreement with the prediction of existing theories. In the momentum nonconserving ϕ4 system the heat conductivity converges to a finite value as the system size is increased.