Nontrivial properties of heat flow: Analytical study of some anharmonic lattice microscopic models

We address the analytical investigation of nontrivial properties of heat flow, starting from microscopic models of matter. We present an integral representation for the expression of the heat flow, by taking as our crystal model a self-consistent chain of anharmonic oscillators, precisely, a chain of oscillators with harmonic interparticle interactions, anharmonic on-site potentials, thermal reservoirs at the boundaries, and still with some residual inner stochastic baths. We propose an approximative scheme to make the integral formalism analytically treatable: we test the approximations in harmonic models and analyze some anharmonic systems. For the case of graded anharmonic models with weak interparticle interactions, we derive an expression for the thermal conductivity, and show the existence of thermal rectification and also nonnegative differential thermal resistance. The details of our formalism allow us to note the ingredients behind these phenomena, and the generality of our results (i.e., the results will be valid for other interactions and regimes) shows that rectification in graded materials is a ubiquitous property.