Heat conduction in 2d nonlinear lattices

Abstract

The divergence of the heat conductivity in the thermodynamic limit is investigated in 2d-lattice models of anharmonic solids with nearest-neighbour interaction from single-well potentials. Two different numerical approaches based on nonequilibrium and equilibrium simulations provide consistent indications in favour of a logarithmic divergence in "ergodic", i.e. highly chaotic, dynamical regimes. Analytical estimates obtained in the framework of linear-response theory confirm this finding, while tracing back the physical origin of this {\sl anomalous} transport to the slow diffusion of the energy of long-wavelength effective Fourier modes. Finally, numerical evidence of {\sl superanomalous} transport is given in the weakly chaotic regime, typically found below some energy density threshold.