Why asymmetric interparticle interaction can result in convergent heat conductivity

Abstract

We show that the asymmetric inter-particle interactions may induce rapid decay of heat current autocorrelation in one-dimensional momentum conserving lattices. When the asymmetry degree and the temperature are appropriate, the decay is sufficient rapid for resulting a convergence conductivity practically. To understand the underlying mechanism, we further studied the relaxation behavior of the hydrodynamic modes. It is shown that for lattice with symmetric potential, the heat mode relaxs in the superdiffusive manner, while in the case of asymmetric potential, the heat mode may relax in the normal manner.