Prethermalization in a classical phonon field: Slow relaxation of the number of phonons
We investigate the emergence of an astonishingly long prethermal plateau in a classical phonon field, here, a harmonic chain with on-site pinning. Integrability is broken by a weak anharmonic on-site potential with strength λ. In the small λ limit, the approach to equilibrium of a translation invari...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Physical Society
2020-05-01
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| Series: | Physical Review Research |
| Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.022034 |
| _version_ | 1797211476993245184 |
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| author | François Huveneers Jani Lukkarinen |
| author_facet | François Huveneers Jani Lukkarinen |
| author_sort | François Huveneers |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We investigate the emergence of an astonishingly long prethermal plateau in a classical phonon field, here, a harmonic chain with on-site pinning. Integrability is broken by a weak anharmonic on-site potential with strength λ. In the small λ limit, the approach to equilibrium of a translation invariant initial state is described by kinetic theory. However, when the phonon band becomes narrow, we find that the (nonconserved) number of phonons relaxes on much longer timescales than kinetic. We establish rigorous bounds on the relaxation time and develop a theory that yields exact predictions for the dissipation rate in the limit λ→0. We compare the theoretical predictions with data from molecular-dynamics simulations and find good agreement. Our Rapid Communication shows how classical systems may exhibit phenomena which, at the first glance, appear to require quantization. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:27:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7cbb16a6dcfd461288898204de402bdd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2643-1564 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:27:06Z |
| publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physical Review Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-7cbb16a6dcfd461288898204de402bdd2024-04-12T16:53:41ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642020-05-012202203410.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.022034Prethermalization in a classical phonon field: Slow relaxation of the number of phononsFrançois HuveneersJani LukkarinenWe investigate the emergence of an astonishingly long prethermal plateau in a classical phonon field, here, a harmonic chain with on-site pinning. Integrability is broken by a weak anharmonic on-site potential with strength λ. In the small λ limit, the approach to equilibrium of a translation invariant initial state is described by kinetic theory. However, when the phonon band becomes narrow, we find that the (nonconserved) number of phonons relaxes on much longer timescales than kinetic. We establish rigorous bounds on the relaxation time and develop a theory that yields exact predictions for the dissipation rate in the limit λ→0. We compare the theoretical predictions with data from molecular-dynamics simulations and find good agreement. Our Rapid Communication shows how classical systems may exhibit phenomena which, at the first glance, appear to require quantization.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.022034 |
| spellingShingle | François Huveneers Jani Lukkarinen Prethermalization in a classical phonon field: Slow relaxation of the number of phonons Physical Review Research |
| title | Prethermalization in a classical phonon field: Slow relaxation of the number of phonons |
| title_full | Prethermalization in a classical phonon field: Slow relaxation of the number of phonons |
| title_fullStr | Prethermalization in a classical phonon field: Slow relaxation of the number of phonons |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prethermalization in a classical phonon field: Slow relaxation of the number of phonons |
| title_short | Prethermalization in a classical phonon field: Slow relaxation of the number of phonons |
| title_sort | prethermalization in a classical phonon field slow relaxation of the number of phonons |
| url | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.022034 |
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