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10 MARCH 1997
Dipartimento di Fisica, Universit di Bologna and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, I-40127 Bologna, Italy
2
Istituto Nazionale di Ottica and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, I-50125 Firenze, Italy
3
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica della Materia, I-50125 Firenze, Italy
(Received 22 October 1996; revised manuscript received 30 January 1997)
We numerically study heat conduction in chains of nonlinear oscillators with time-reversible
thermostats. A nontrivial temperature profile is found to set in, which obeys a simple scaling
relation for increasing the number N of particles. The thermal conductivity diverges approximately
as N 1y2 , indicating that chaotic behavior is not enough to ensure the Fourier law. Finally, we show
that the microscopic dynamics ensures fulfillment of a macroscopic balance equation for the entropy
production. [S0031-9007(97)02611-2]
PACS numbers: 44.10.+i, 05.45.+b, 05.60.+w, 05.70.Ln
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0031-9007y97y78(10)y1896(4)$10.00
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(1)
x 2 y2
bx 4 y4
The dynamical equations are left invariant under time reversal composed with the involution pi ! 2pi . Recent
numerical observations [22] show that time-reversible
nonequilibrium dynamics yields results compatible with
the predictions of Ref. [2], despite the fact that the
system under investigation is not strictly Anosov. We
expect that this should hold also for our model at sufficiently high temperatures. However, we shall not further
address this point here; this will be the subject of a forthcoming paper [23].
We have performed extensive numerical simulations
with several values of N and T6 , integrating the equations
of motion with an improved fourth-order Runge-KuttaGhil algorithm. The first clear result is the convergence
to a well defined spatial profile of the local temperature
Ti k pi2 l (k?l denoting time average). The asymptotic
stationary state satisfies the local equilibrium condition, as
confirmed by the fluctuations of Ti that are in agreement
with the canonical ones. The only exceptions are represented by the particles close to the boundaries, where the
temperature profile seems to exhibit a singularity. Globally, the profiles satisfy a simple scaling relation, as clearly
shown in Fig. 1, where the values of Ti , corresponding to
different chain lengths (and the same boundary temperatures), are plotted versus iyN. The adoption of the above
scaled units is tantamount to considering the continuum limit with the lattice spacing a equal to 1yN. However, this is to be taken only as a formal interpretation, as
the mass density obviously diverges when N ! `; conversely, if the equations are rescaled in such a way that
both energy and mass densities are kept constant, one finds
that the nonlinearity coefficient b should diverge.
The nonlinear shape of the profiles could be interpreted
as an indication of a temperature-dependent conductivity,
but this is incorrect, since simulations done with such small
temperature differences as T1 2 T2 4 still reveal clear
deviations from linearity. This is rather an indication of
Hsx,
td 1 divJsx, td 0 ,
(3)
P
where H i Hi dsx 2 xi d, Hi pi2 y2 1 V sqi 2
qi21 d and xi ia 1 qi . By Fourier transforming (in
space) Eq. (3), and upon expanding in powers of the
wave number k, one eventually finds that the heat flux at
the ith position is given by [23,24]
Ji std api fi11 ,
(4)
J
,
dT ydx
(5)
10 MARCH 1997
(6)
1
1
,
(7)
2
kz1 l 1 kz2 l J
T2
T1
with the convention that J . 0 is an incoming flux.
Equation (7) can be physically interpreted as a balance
relation for the global entropy production. According to
the general principles of irreversible thermodynamics, the
local rate of entropy production s in the bulk is given by
d
1
ssxd J
.
(8)
dx Tsxd
Upon integrating Eq. (8), the right-hand side of Eq. (7)
is obtained, which can thus be interpreted as the global
production rate of entropy in the bulk. On the other hand,
according to general arguments on reversible thermostats
[2], the left-hand side of Eq. (7) is identified with the
entropy production from the heat baths. Equation (7) has
been numerically tested in a wide range of temperatures.
A relevant consequence of Eq. (6) is that z6 are
proportional to J, so that not only the fluxes but also
the dissipation g vanish in the thermodynamic limit
N ! `. This is indeed a remarkable difference with
respect to other models of gases and fluids studied, e.g.,
in Refs. [2,4,5], where the dissipation is always extensive.
In our opinion, this is due to the vanishing of dT ydx, and
not to the fact that thermostats act only at the boundaries.
Indeed, by globally thermostating the two halves of the
lattice at two different temperatures [26], we find that g,
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