Analysis of ballistic transport and resonance in the $\alpha$-Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou model

TL;DR

This study investigates ballistic transport and resonance in the one-dimensional $ ext{α}$-FPUT model, revealing how anharmonicity influences heat transfer and phase coherence, with implications for understanding low-dimensional thermal phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a response function approach to analyze resonance and transport, providing new insights into phonon interactions and potential quantum extensions in the $ ext{α}$-FPUT model.

Findings

Resonance involves beats between normal modes reinforcing in 1D chains.

Anharmonic scattering reduces phase coherence, shifting transport towards diffusion.

Evidence of q-breathers under strong anharmonicity conditions.

Abstract

Ballistic transport and resonance phenomena are elucidated in the one-dimensional $\alpha$-Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou (FPUT) model using an approach of computing thermal response functions. The existence of periodic oscillations in spatially sinusoidal temperature profiles seen in previous studies is confirmed. However, the results obtained using response functions enable a more complete understanding. In particular, it is shown that resonance involves beats between normal modes which tend to reinforce in a one-dimensional chain. Anharmonic scattering acts to destroy phase coherence across the statistical ensemble, and with increasing anharmonicity, transport is driven towards the diffusive regime. These results provide additional insight into anomalous heat transport in low-dimensional systems. Normal-mode scattering is also explored using time correlation functions. Interestingly, these calculations, in addition to demonstrating loss of phase coherence across an ensemble of simulations, appear to show evidence of so-called q-breathers in conditions of strong anharmonicity. Finally, we describe how the approach outlined here could be developed to include quantum statistics and also also first-principles estimates of phonon scattering rates to elucidate second sound and ballistic transport in realistic materials at low temperatures.