Physics – Condensed Matter – Statistical Mechanics
Scientific paper
2001-08-29
Physics
Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
14 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in American Journal of Physics
Scientific paper
10.1119/1.1427088
For students familiar with equilibrium statistical mechanics, the notion of a positive specific heat, being intimately related to the idea of stability, is both intuitively reasonable and mathematically provable. However, for system in non-equilibrium stationary states, coupled to more than one energy reservoir (e.g., thermal bath), negative specific heat is entirely possible. In this paper, we present a ``minimal'' system displaying this phenomenon. Being in contact with two thermal baths at different temperatures, the (internal) energy of this system may increase when a thermostat is turned down. In another context, a similar phenomenon is negative conductivity, where a current may increase by decreasing the drive (e.g., an external electric field). The counter-intuitive behavior in both processes may be described as `` getting more from pushing less.'' The crucial ingredients for this phenomenon and the elements needed for a ``minimal'' system are also presented.
Mouritsen Ole G.
Praestgaard E. L.
Zia Royce K. P.
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