Heat rectification with a minimal model of two harmonic oscillators

Area of Science:

• Quantum physics
• Thermodynamics
• Atomic physics

Background:

• Heat rectification, the directional flow of heat, is crucial for thermal management.
• Minimalistic models are essential for understanding complex physical phenomena like asymmetric heat transport.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate heat rectification in a minimalistic model of two unequal atoms coupled to Langevin baths.
• To derive analytic expressions for steady-state heat currents.
• To identify conditions for optimizing heat rectification.

Main Methods:

• Developing a minimalistic model of two unequal atoms with linear forces.
• Coupling atoms to effective Langevin baths induced by Doppler lasers.
• Deriving analytic expressions for heat currents and analyzing system parameters.

Main Results:

• Asymmetric heat transport is achieved by exchanging bath temperatures and temperature-dependent bath-system couplings.
• Maximal rectification is found to depend on the match/mismatch of ion power spectra for forward/reverse temperature bias.
• The behavior of dissipative normal modes explains the observed high rectification.

Conclusions:

• The proposed model, realizable with trapped ions, demonstrates tunable heat rectification.
• Understanding the interplay between temperature, coupling, and spectral properties is key to controlling heat flow.
• This work provides a foundation for designing nanoscale thermal devices.