Scaling of temperature-dependent thermal conductivities for one-dimensional nonlinear lattices

Abstract

In general nonlinear lattices, the existence of renormalized phonons due to the nonlinear interactions has been independently discovered by many research groups. Regarding these renormalized phonons as the energy carriers responsible for the heat transport, the scaling laws of temperature-dependent thermal conductivities of one-dimensional nonlinear lattices can be derived from the phenomenological effective phonon approach. For the paradigmatic nonlinear φ4 lattice, κ(T)T-1.35, which was numerically obtained more than a decade ago, can be well explained by the current approach. Most importantly, this approach is able to predict the scaling laws of temperature-dependent thermal conductivities of generalized nonlinear Klein-Gordon lattices. These theoretical predictions are compared by numerical simulations, and perfect agreements have been found. © 2013 American Physical Society.