Geometry induced local thermal current from cold to hot in a classical harmonic system

Abstract

The second law of thermodynamics requires the overall thermal current to flow from hot to cold. However, it does not forbid a local thermal current from flowing from cold to hot. By coupling a harmonic system of three masses connected by a few springs to two Langevin reservoirs at different temperatures, a local atypical thermal current is found to flow from cold to hot in the steady state while the overall thermal current is still from hot to cold. The direction of the local thermal current can be tuned by the mass, spring constant, and system-reservoir coupling. The local thermal current can vanish if the parameters are tuned to proper values. We also consider nonlinear effect from the system-substrate coupling and find that the local atypical thermal current survives in the presence of the nonlinear potential. Moreover, the local atypical thermal current is robust against asymmetry of the system-reservoir coupling, inhomogeneity of the nonlinear potential, and additions of more masses and springs. In molecular or nanomechanical systems where the setup may find its realization, the direction of the local thermal current may be controlled by mechanical or electromagnetic means, which may lead to applications in information storage.