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Simple one-dimensional model of heat conduction which obeys Fourier's law
P L Garrido1, P I Hurtado, B Nadrowski
1Departamento de E.M y Física de la Materia, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain.
Physical Review Letters
|June 21, 2001
Abstract:
We present the computer simulation results of a chain of hard-point particles with alternating masses interacting on its extremes with two thermal baths at different temperatures. We found that the system obeys Fourier's law at the thermodynamic limit. This result is against the actual belief that one-dimensional systems with momentum conservative dynamics and nonzero pressure have infinite thermal conductivity. It seems that thermal resistivity occurs in our system due to a cooperative behavior in which light particles tend to absorb much more energy than the heavier ones.