Heat conductivity in the presence of a quantized degree of freedom

¹ Zhejiang Institute of Modern Physics, Zhejiang University - Zhejiang 310027, PRC
² Department of Physics, Huzhou Teachers College - Zhejiang 313000, PRC

Corresponding author: jwmao@zimp.zju.edu.cn

Received: 3 March 2006
Accepted: 10 August 2006

Abstract

We propose a model with a quantized degree of freedom to study the heat transport in quasi–one-dimensional systems. Our simulations reveal three distinct temperature regimes. In particular, the intermediate regime is characterized by heat conductivity with a temperature exponent γ much greater than 1/2 that was generally found in systems with point-like particles. A dynamical investigation indicates the occurrence of non-equipartition behavior in this regime. Moreover, the corresponding Poincaré section also shows remarkably characteristic patterns, completely different from the cases of point-like particles.