Coherent energy transport in classical nonlinear oscillators: an analogy with the Josephson effect

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates persistent energy currents in classical nonlinear oscillators driven by phase differences, drawing an analogy with the Josephson effect, and suggests new ways to control energy transport in macroscopic systems.

Contribution

It introduces a classical system exhibiting Josephson-like energy currents driven by phase differences, bridging quantum phenomena and classical nonlinear dynamics.

Findings

Persistent energy currents are generated by phase differences.

The system exhibits Josephson-like effects in a classical setting.

Potential applications in controlling energy transport and rectification.

Abstract

The standard approach to non-equilibrium thermodynamics describes transport in terms of generalised forces and coupled currents, a typical example being the Fourier law that relates temperature gradient to the heat flux. Here we demonstrate the presence of persistent energy currents in a lattice of classical nonlinear oscillators with uniform temperature and chemical potential. In strong analogy with the well known Josephson effect, the currents are generated only by the phase differences between the oscillators. The phases play the role of additional thermodynamical forces, that drive the system out of equilibrium. Our results apply to a large class of oscillators and indicate novel ways to practically control the propagation of coupled currents and rectification effects in many different devices. They also suggest a simple, macroscopic setup for studying a phenomenon which hitherto have only been observed in microscopic, quantum-mechanical systems.