Heat conduction through the Frenkel-Kontorova (FK) lattices is numerically investigated in the presence of a deformable substrate potential. It is found that the deformation of the substrate potential has a strong influence on heat conduction. The thermal conductivity as a function of the shape parameter is nonmonotonic. The deformation can enhance thermal conductivity greatly and there exists an optimal deformable value at which thermal conductivity takes its maximum. Remarkably, we also find that the deformation can facilitate the appearance of the negative differential thermal resistance (NDTR).
The nonlinear response of an adsorbed layer on a periodic substrate to an external force is studied via a two dimensional uniaxial Frenkel-Kontorova model. The nonequlibrium properties of the model are simulated by Brownian molecular dynamics. Dynamical phase transitions between pinned solid, sliding commensurate and incommensurate solids and hysteresis effects are found that are qualitatively similar to the results for a Lennard-Jones model, thus demonstrating the universal nature of these features.
The Frenkel Kontorova (FK) model is known to exhibit the so called Aubry's transition which is a jamming or frictional transition at zero temperature. Recently we found similar transition at zero and finite temperatures in a super-conducting Josephson junction array (JJA) on a square lattice under external magnetic field. In the present paper we discuss how these problems are related.
In this Letter, we show numerically that the rectifying effect of heat flux in a one-dimensional two-segment Frenkel-Kontorova chain demonstrated in recent literature is merely available under the limit of the weak coupling between the two constituent segments. Surprisingly, the rectifying effect will be reversed when the properties of the interface and the system size change. The two types of asymmetric heat conduction are dominated by different mechanisms, which are all induced by the nonlinearity. We further discuss the possibility of the experimental realization of thermal diode or rectifi…
In this work we study the energy transport in a one-dimensional system composed of two dissimilar Frenkel-Kontorova lattices connected by a time-modulated coupling and in contact with two heat reservoirs operating at different temperature by means of molecular dynamics simulations. There is a value of the driving frequency at which the heat flux takes its maximum value, a phenomenon termed as thermal resonance. Structural modifications in the lattice strongly alter the way in which the external driving interacts with the phonon bands. The overlap of the latter in the harmonic regime of the mod…
We propose a new but simpler explanation of the phases of a Frenkel-Kontorova chain of atoms, and we demonstrate it by examples. Combined with this, we present a criticism of the theory of so-called commensurate and incommensurate states, especially for finite chains. We reject the putative observation of an Aubry-phase transition in a finite chain.
A 1D model of interacting particles moving over a periodic substrate and in a position dependent temperature profile is considered. When the substrate and the temperature profile are spatially asymmetric a center-of-mass velocity develops, corresponding to a directed transport of the chain. This autonomous system can thus transform heath currents into motion. The model parameters can be tuned such that the particles exhibit a crossover from an ordered configuration on the substrate to a disordered one, the maximal motor effect being reached in such a disordered phase. In this case the manybody…
Through multiscale analysis of the adjoint Fokker-Planck equation, strict bounds are derived for the center of mass diffusivity of an overdamped harmonic chain in a periodic potential, often known as the discrete Frenkel-Kontorova model. Significantly, it is shown that the free energy barrier is a lower bound to the true finite temperature migration barrier for this general and popular system. Numerical simulation confirms the analysis, whilst effective migration potentials implied by the bounds are employed to give a surprisingly accurate prediction of the non-linear response.
In this paper, it is shown that a configuration modulated system described by the Frenkel-Kontorova model can be locked at an incommensurate phase when the quantum zero point energy is taken into account. It is also found that the specific heat for an incommensurate phase shows different parameter-dependence in sliding phase and pinning phase. These findings provide a possible way for experimentalists to verify the phase transition by breaking of analyticity.
In this paper, the one-dimensional incommensurate quantum Frenkel-Kontorova model is investigate by a density-matrix renormalization group algorithm. Special attention is given to the entanglement and the ground state energy. The energy gap between the ground state and the first excited is also calculated. From all the numerical results, we have observed an obvious property changes from the pinned state to the sliding one as the quantum fluctuation is increased. But no expected quantum critical point can be justified by the present data.
In this paper, we have studied the one-dimensional commensurate quantum Frenkel-Kontorova model by a density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) algorithm. The focus has been on its properties of the entanglement, the coordinate correlation, the ground state energy and the energy gap between the ground state and the first excited one. It is demonstrated that a quantum phase transition (QPT) between the pinned and the sliding phases takes place as the quantum fluctuation, measured by an effective Planck constant $\tilde\hbar$, increases to a threshold value $\tilde \hbar_c$.
Simple models for friction are typically one-dimensional, but real interfaces are two-dimensional. We investigate the effects of the second dimension on static and dynamic friction by using the Frenkel-Kontorova (FK) model. We study the two most straightforward extensions of the FK model to two dimensions and simulate both the static and dynamic properties. We show that the behavior of the static friction is robust and remains similar in two dimensions for physically reasonable parameter values. The dynamic friction, however, is strongly influenced by the second dimension and the accompanying …
We generalise the classical Transition by Breaking of Analyticity for the class of Frenkel-Kontorova models studied by Aubry and others to non-zero Planck's constant and temperature. This analysis is based on the study of a renormalization operator for the case of irrational mean spacing using Feynman's functional integral approach. We show how existing classical results extend to the quantum regime. In particular we extend MacKay's renormalization approach for the classical statistical mechanics to deduce scaling of low frequency effects and quantum effects. Our approach extends the phenomeno…
We investigate the resonance steps, spatiotemporal dynamics, and dynamical phase diagrams of the dc-driven diatomic Frenkel-Kontorova model. The complete resonance velocity spectrum is given. The diatomic effects result in each resonant state being characterized by two integer pairs, $(k_1,k_2)$ and $(k_1,k_2^{\prime})$. In the high-velocity region the linear response of the average velocity, $v$, of the chain to the driving force $F$ is often punctuated by subharmonic resonances $(k_1>k_2)$. There are two kinds of nonlinear response regions in the high-velocity region. A new physical interpre…
This paper gives a review of our recent work on the quantum Frenkel-Kontorova model. Using the squeezed state theory and the quantum Monte Carlo method, we have studied the effects of quantum fluctuations on the Aubry transition and the behavior of the ground state wave function. We found that quantum fluctuations renormalize the sinusoidal standard map to a sawtooth map. Although quantum fluctuations have smeared the Aubry transition, the remnants of this transition are still discernible. The ground state wave function also changes from an extended state to a localized state. The squeezed sta…
Problems of heat transport are ubiquitous to various technologies such as power generation, cooling, electronics, and thermoelectrics. Within this context it is natural that external heat flux control on nanoscale devices became an appealing strategy that has been explored in recent years. In this work we study the thermal resonance phenomenon, i.e., the maximum heat flux obtained by means of an external periodic driving, of a one-dimensional system composed of two dissimilar Frenkel-Kontorva lattices with both nearest-neighbor (NN) and next-nearest-neighbor (NNN) interactions connected by tim…
Multistep dynamical phase transition from the locked to the running state of atoms in response to a dc external force is studied by MD simulations of the generalized Frenkel-Kontorova model in the underdamped limit. We show that the hierarchy of transition recently reported [Braun et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 1295 (1997)] strongly depends on the value of the friction constant. A simple phenomenological explanation for the friction dependence of the various critical forces separating intermediate regimes is given.
We present a simple and complete variational approach to the one-dimensional quantum Frenkel-Kontorova model. Dirac's time-dependent variational principle is adopted together with a Hatree-type many-body trial wavefunction for the atoms. The single-particle state is assumed to have the Jackiw-Kerman form. We obtain an effective classical Hamiltonian for the system which is simple enough for a complete numerical solution for the static ground state of the model. Numerical results show that our simple approach captures the essence of the quantum effects first observed in quantum Monte Carlo stud…
Kink dynamics of the damped Frenkel-Kontorova (discrete sine-Gordon) chain driven by a constant external force are investigated. Resonant steplike transitions of the average velocity occur due to the competitions between the moving kinks and their radiated phasonlike modes. A mean-field consideration is introduced to give a precise prediction of the resonant steps. Slip-stick motion and spatiotemporal dynamics on those resonant steps are discussed. Our results can be applied to studies of the fluxon dynamics of 1D Josephson-junction arrays and ladders, dislocations, tribology and other fields.
The problem of finding the exact energies and configurations for the Frenkel-Kontorova model consisting of particles in one dimension connected to their nearest-neighbors by springs and placed in a periodic potential consisting of segments from parabolas of identical (positive) curvature but arbitrary height and spacing, is reduced to that of minimizing a certain convex function defined on a finite simplex.
We study the transmission coefficient of a plane wave through a 1D finite quasi-periodic system -- the Frenkel-Kontorova (FK) model -- embedding in an infinite uniform harmonic chain. By varying the mass of atoms in the infinite uniform chain, we obtain the transmission coefficients for {\it all} eigenfrequencies. The phonon localization of the incommensurated FK chain is also studied in terms of the transmission coefficients and the Thouless exponents. Moreover, the heat conduction of Rubin-Greer-like model for FK chain at low temperature is calculated. It is found that the stationary heat fl…
Wearless friction is investigated in a simple mechanical model called Frenkel-Kontorova-Tomlinson model. We have introduced this model in [Phys. Rev. B, Vol. 53, 7539 (1996)] where the static friction has already been considered. Here the model is treated for constant sliding speed. The kinetic friction is calculated numerically as well as analytically. As a function of the sliding velocity it shows many structures which can be understood by varies kinds of phonon resonances (normal, superharmonic and parametric) caused by the so-called "washboard wave". For increasing interaction strength the…
A procedure is described for efficiently finding the ground state energy and configuration for a Frenkel-Kontorova model in a periodic potential, consisting of N parabolic segments of identical curvature in each period, through a numerical solution of the convex minimization problem described in the preceding paper. The key elements are the use of subdifferentials to describe the structure of the minimization problem; an intuitive picture of how to solve it, based on motion of quasiparticles; and a fast linear optimization method with a reduced memory requirement. The procedure has been tested…
We analyze the relationship between the lowest energy configurations of an infinite harmonic chain of particles in a periodic potential and the evolution of characteristics in a periodically-forced inviscid Burgers equation. The shock discontinuities in the the Burgers evolution arise from thermodynamical considerations and play an important role as they separate out flows related to lowest energy configurations from those associated with higher energies. We study in detail the exactly solvable case of an external potential consisting of parabolic segments, and calculate analytically the lowes…
Thermal transistor is an efficient heat control device which can act as a heat switch as well as a heat modulator. In this paper, we study systematically one-dimensional and two-dimensional thermal transistors. In particular, we show how to improve significantly the efficiency of the one-dimensional thermal transistor. The study is also extended to the design of two-dimensional thermal transistor by coupling different anharmonic lattices such as the Frenkel-Kontorova and the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattices. Analogy between anharmonic lattices and single-walled carbon nanotube is drawn and possible e…
Heat conduction in one-dimensional Yukawa chains is investigated. It is shown numerically that it has the abnormal heat conduction which is proportional to the system size. Effects of asymmetric external potential, the modified Frenkel-Kontorova one, on the heat conduction of system are also studied. It is found that the asymmetric property of external potential can induce asymmetric thermal conductivity that can be used to be a effective thermal rectifier. In certain of system parameters the heat flux are significantly different for two opposite direction. One can parametrically control the h…
We study interface thermal resistance (ITR) in a system consisting of two dissimilar anharmonic lattices exemplified by Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) model and Frenkel-Kontorova (FK) model. It is found that the ITR is asymmetric, namely, it depends on how the temperature gradient is applied. The dependence of the ITR on the coupling constant, temperature, temperature difference, and system size are studied. Possible applications in nanoscale heat management and control are discussed.
Frictional phenomena of two-dimensional elastic lattices are studied numerically based on a two-dimensional Frenkel-Kontorova model with impurities. It is shown that impurities can assist the depinning. We also investigate anisotropic ordering and transverse pinning effects of sliding lattices, which are characteristic of the moving Bragg glass state and/or transverse glass state. Peculiar velocity dependence of the transverse pinning is observed in the presence of both periodic and random potentials and discussed in the relation with growing order and discommensurate structures.
We study heat conduction in one dimensional (1D) anharmonic lattices analytically and numerically by using an effective phonon theory. It is found that every effective phonon mode oscillates quasi-periodically. By weighting the power spectrum of the total heat flux in the Debye formula, we obtain a unified formalism that can explain anomalous heat conduction in momentum conserved lattices without on-site potential and normal heat conduction in lattices with on-site potential. Our results agree very well with numerical ones for existing models such as the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam model, the Frenkel-Kon…
Energy transport control in low dimensional nano-scale systems has attracted much attention in recent years. In this paper, we investigate the energy transport properties of Frenkel-Kontorova lattice subject to a periodic driving force, in particular, the resonance behavior of the energy current by varying the external driving frequency. It is discovered that in certain parameter ranges, multiple resonance peaks, instead of a single resonance, emerge. By comparing the nonlinear lattice model with a harmonic chain, we unravel the underlying physical mechanism for such resonance phenomenon. Othe…
Recently, it has been claimed (O. V. Gendelman and A. V. Savin, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 84}, 2381 (2000); A.V.Savin and O.V.Gendelman, arXiv: cond-mat/0204631 (2002)) that two nonlinear classical 1-d lattice models show transitions, at finite temperatures, where the heat conduction changes from being finite to being infinite. These are the well known Frenkel-Kontorova (FK) model and a model for coupled rotators. For the FK model we give strong theoretical arguments why such a phase transition is not to be expected. For both models we show numerically that the effects observed by Gendelman {\it e…
