Non-reciprocity and heat transfer in far from equilibrium processes

TL;DR

This paper explores how non-reciprocal phonon models can enable heat transfer between black bodies at the same temperature, especially when dissipation breaks detailed balance, challenging traditional thermodynamic expectations.

Contribution

It introduces a simplified non-reciprocal phonon model to analyze heat transfer mechanisms in far-from-equilibrium conditions, highlighting the role of dissipation in breaking detailed balance.

Findings

Non-reciprocal devices can facilitate heat transfer at equal temperatures.

Dissipation breaks detailed balance, enabling net heat flow.

Heat transfer depends on the temperature of absorptive elements.

Abstract

A non-reciprocal phonon model for microwave or optical isolators is considered. It gives a simpler framework to further investigate the formerly argued possibility for a heat transfer between black bodies at common temperatures. While the non-dissipative device retains the Detailed Balance property, the presence of dissipation breaks it. This property allows a net transfer of heat between the two black bodies at common temperatures, whenever the absorptive elements are at lower temperatures than the one being common to the bodies.