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Nonunique steady states in the disordered harmonic chain.
Xin Zhou1, Hu Chen, Mitsumasa Iwamoto
1Department of Physical Electronics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, O-okayama 2-12-1, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan.
Summary
Heat transport in disordered harmonic chains exhibits unusual temperature profiles, deviating from standard predictions due to localized modes. These findings challenge conventional understanding of heat flow in disordered systems.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Statistical Mechanics
- Thermodynamics
Background:
- Disordered harmonic chains (DHCs) are models for studying heat transport in disordered materials.
- Understanding heat transport in such systems is crucial for materials science and nanotechnology.
- Previous studies often assumed uniform temperature profiles or simpler boundary conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the heat transport properties of DHCs coupled to arbitrary heat baths.
- To analyze the steady-state temperature profiles in these systems.
- To identify the underlying mechanisms responsible for unusual thermal behavior.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a general formulation for heat transport developed by Dhar.
- Analyzed the steady-state temperature distribution in DHCs.
- Investigated the role of localized higher frequency normal modes.
Main Results:
- The steady-state temperature profile is not unique and depends on initial conditions.
- Nonlinear temperature profiles were observed even with small temperature differences.
- Temperature gradients were not inversely proportional to system size.
- Non-uniform temperatures were found even when coupled to identical thermostats.
Conclusions:
- Localized higher frequency normal modes induced by mass disorders are responsible for the observed unusual thermal properties.
- The findings challenge conventional models of heat transport in disordered systems.
- This work provides new insights into the complex behavior of heat flow in disordered materials.