Fourier's Law: a Challenge for Theorists

Two aspects of conductive heat are focused here (i) the nature of conductive heat, defined as that form of energy that is transferred as a result of a temperature difference and (ii) the nature of the intermolecular potentials that induces both thermal energy flow and the temperature profile at the steady state for a 1-D lattice chain. It is found that the standard presuppositions of people like Benofy and Quay (BQ) following Joseph Fourier do not obtain for at least a certai...

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 regai...

We investigate the stationary nonequilibrium states of a quasi one-dimensional system of heavy particles whose interaction is mediated by purely elastic collisions with light particles, in contact at the boundary with two heat baths with fixed temperatures $T^+$ and $T^-$. It is shown that Fourier law is satisfied with a thermal conductivity proportional to $\sqrt{T(x)}$ where $T(x)$ is the local temperature. Entropy flux and entropy production are also investigated.

We consider a d-dimensional harmonic crystal in contact with a stochastic Langevin type heat bath at each site. The temperatures of the "exterior" left and right heat baths are at specified values T_L and T_R, respectively, while the temperatures of the "interior" baths are chosen self-consistently so that there is no average flux of energy between them and the system in the steady state. We prove that this requirement uniquely fixes the temperatures and the self consistent s...

The main objective of this paper is to show that, within the present framework of the kinetic theoretical approach to irreversible thermodynamics, there is no evidence that provides a basis to modify the ordinary Fourier equation relating the heat flux in a non-equilibrium steady state to the gradient of the local equilibrium temperature. This fact is supported, among other arguments, through the kinetic foundations of generalized hydrodynamics. Some attempts have been recent...

We study the Hamiltonian system made of weakly coupled anharmonic oscillators arranged on a three dimensional lattice and subjected to a stochastic forcing mimicking heat baths of temperatures T_1 and T_2 on the hyperplanes at x_1=0 and N. We introduce a truncation of the Hopf equations describing the stationary state of the system which leads to a nonlinear equation for the two-point stationary correlation functions. We prove that these equations have a unique solution which...

In the study of the heat transfer in the Boltzmann theory, the basic problem is to construct solutions to the steady problem for the Boltzmann equation in a general bounded domain with diffuse reflection boundary conditions corresponding to a non isothermal temperature of the wall. Denoted by \delta the size of the temperature oscillations on the boundary, we develop a theory to characterize such a solution mathematically. We construct a unique solution F_s to the Boltzmann e...

Phonon heat conduction over length scales comparable to their mean free paths is a topic of considerable interest for basic science and thermal management technologies. Although the failure of Fourier's law beyond the diffusive regime is well understood, debate exists over the proper physical description of thermal transport in the ballistic to diffusive crossover. Here, we derive a generalized Fourier's law that links the heat flux and temperature fields, valid from ballisti...

In this reply we answer the comment by A. Dhar (cond-mat/0203077) on our Letter "Simple one dimensional model of heat conduction which obeys Fourier's law" (Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 5486 (2001), cond-mat/0104453)

This paper consider the mesoscopic limit of a stochastic energy exchange model that is numerically derived from deterministic dynamics. The law of large numbers and the central limit theorems are proved. We show that the limit of the stochastic energy exchange model is a discrete heat equation that satisfies Fourier's law. In addition, when the system size (number of particles) is large, the stochastic energy exchange is approximated by a stochastic differential equation, cal...