Effective phonons in anharmonic lattices: anomalous vs normal heat conduction

Abstract

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-Kontorova model and the $\phi^4$ model etc.