On the fundamental solution of the heat transfer problem in one-dimensional harmonic crystals

The work is devoted to the description of unsteady thermal processes in low-dimensional structures. To obtain the relationship between the microscopic and macroscopic descriptions of solids, it is necessary to understand the heat transfer mechanism at the micro-level. At the latter, in contrast to the macro-level, analytical, numerical, and experimental studies demonstrate significant deviations from the Fourier’s law. The paper bases on the ballistic heat transfer model, according to which the heat is carried by the thermal waves. This effect can be applied, for example, to signal transmission and heat removal problems. The influence of non-nearest neighbors on processes in discrete media, as well as processes in polyatomic lattices, is investigated. To describe the evolution of the initial thermal perturbation, the dispersion characteristics and group velocities in one-dimensional crystal are analyzed for (i) a diatomic chain with variable masses or stiffnesses and for (ii) a monatomic chain with regard for interaction with second neighbors. A fundamental solution to the heat distribution problem for the corresponding crystal models is obtained and investigated. The fundamental solution allows to obtain a description of waves traveling from a point source, and can serve as the basis for constructing all other solutions. In both cases, the solution consists of two thermal fronts moving one after another with different speeds and intensities. Quantitative estimates of the intensity of the thermal wave front are given, and the dynamics of changes in the velocities and intensities of the waves depending on the parameters of the problem is analyzed. Thus, a simple method for estimating the wavefronts intensity is proposed and tested on two models. These results can be used to identify and analyze those parts of the wave processes that are of interest in terms of interpretation of the effects observed in the experiments.