Non-equilibrium piezo-thermal effect in spinning gas

Abstract

A spinning gas, heated adiabatically through axial compression, is known to exhibit a rotation-dependent heat capacity. However, as equilibrium is approached, a new effect is identified here wherein the temperature does not grow homogeneously in the radial direction, but develops a temperature differential with the hottest region on axis, at the maximum of the centrifugal potential energy. This phenomenon, which we call a piezo-thermal effect, is shown to grow bilinearly with the compression rate and the amplitude of the potential. Numerical simulations confirm a simple model of this effect, which can be generalized to other forms of potential energy and methods of heating.