Vortices and backflow in hydrodynamic heat transport

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Auteurs principaux: Di Lucente, Enrico, Libbi, Francesco, Marzari, Nicola
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Di Lucente, Enrico
Libbi, Francesco
Marzari, Nicola
author_facet Di Lucente, Enrico
Libbi, Francesco
Marzari, Nicola
contents Recent experiments have provided compelling and renewed interest in phonon hydrodynamics. At variance with ordinary diffusive heat transport, this regime is primarily governed by momentum-conserving phonon collisions. At the mesoscopic scale it can be described by the viscous heat equations (VHE), that resemble the Navier-Stokes equations (NSE) in the laminar regime. Here, we show that the VHE can be separated and recast as modified biharmonic equations in the velocity potential and stream function$-$solvable analytically. These two can be merged into a complex potential defining the flow streamlines, and give rise to two distinct temperature contributions, ultimately related to thermal compressibility and vorticity. The irrotational and incompressible limits of the phonon VHE are analyzed, showing how the latter mirrors the NSE for the electron fluid. This work also extends to the electron compressible regime that arises when drift velocities can be higher than plasmonic velocities. Finally, by examining thermal flow within a 2D graphite strip device, we explore the boundary conditions and transport coefficients needed to observe thermal vortices and negative thermal resistance, or heat backflow from cooler to warmer regions. This work provides novel analytical tools to design hydrodynamic phonon flow, highlights its generalization for electron hydrodynamics, and promotes additional avenues to explore experimentally such fascinating phenomena.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_16580
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Vortices and backflow in hydrodynamic heat transport
Di Lucente, Enrico
Libbi, Francesco
Marzari, Nicola
Computational Physics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Recent experiments have provided compelling and renewed interest in phonon hydrodynamics. At variance with ordinary diffusive heat transport, this regime is primarily governed by momentum-conserving phonon collisions. At the mesoscopic scale it can be described by the viscous heat equations (VHE), that resemble the Navier-Stokes equations (NSE) in the laminar regime. Here, we show that the VHE can be separated and recast as modified biharmonic equations in the velocity potential and stream function$-$solvable analytically. These two can be merged into a complex potential defining the flow streamlines, and give rise to two distinct temperature contributions, ultimately related to thermal compressibility and vorticity. The irrotational and incompressible limits of the phonon VHE are analyzed, showing how the latter mirrors the NSE for the electron fluid. This work also extends to the electron compressible regime that arises when drift velocities can be higher than plasmonic velocities. Finally, by examining thermal flow within a 2D graphite strip device, we explore the boundary conditions and transport coefficients needed to observe thermal vortices and negative thermal resistance, or heat backflow from cooler to warmer regions. This work provides novel analytical tools to design hydrodynamic phonon flow, highlights its generalization for electron hydrodynamics, and promotes additional avenues to explore experimentally such fascinating phenomena.
title Vortices and backflow in hydrodynamic heat transport
topic Computational Physics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.16580