Energy Transport Structure and Fluctuation Theorem in Nonreciprocal Harmonic Chains
Abstract
Nonreciprocal interactions fundamentally alter energy transport by breaking the symmetry between forward and backward responses. Here, we uncover an exact transport structure for a one-dimensional harmonic chain with asymmetric nearest-neighbor couplings. Using a Green-function approach, we demonstrate that the direction of heat transport is determined not solely by the temperature bias, but by its competition with an effective directional asymmetry. This competition can reverse the direction of heat flow, enabling cold-to-hot transport. We further show that nonreciprocity introduces an additional power channel associated with the antisymmetric sector of the interaction, leading to a generalized steady-state energy balance involving two reservoir heat currents and a nonreciprocal power current. At the fluctuation level, the heat exchanges with the two reservoirs constitute correlated yet distinct stochastic currents, whose joint scaled cumulant generating function obeys an exact Gallavotti-Cohen symmetry. Together, these results establish a unified energetic and fluctuation framework for nonreciprocal heat transport and demonstrate that directional interactions can serve as an active resource for controlling nonequilibrium energy flows.
Related
- Anomaly fluctuation theorem for quantum coherence dynamics
- On the origin of nonreciprocal charge transport in topological insulator BiSbTeSe2
- Generalized fluctuation-dissipation theorem and Einstein relation in rotating equilibrium
- Kink boundary-induced polarity revealed by nonreciprocal charge transport in FeTe0.7Se0.3 superconductor
- Nonreciprocal charge transport in quantum materials: From superconductors to magnetic systems
BibTeX
@misc{cheng2026energy,
title = {{Energy Transport Structure and Fluctuation Theorem in Nonreciprocal Harmonic Chains}},
author = {Ziwei Cheng and Geng Li and Zhanchun Tu},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.09593},
eprint = {2609.09593},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09593},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Energy Transport Structure and Fluctuation Theorem in Nonreciprocal Harmonic Chains
AU - Ziwei Cheng
AU - Geng Li
AU - Zhanchun Tu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/09
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.09593
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09593
AB - Nonreciprocal interactions fundamentally alter energy transport by breaking the symmetry between forward and backward responses. Here, we uncover an exact transport structure for a one-dimensional harmonic chain with asymmetric nearest-neighbor couplings. Using a Green-function approach, we demonstrate that the direction of heat transport is determined not solely by the temperature bias, but by its competition with an effective directional asymmetry. This competition can reverse the direction of heat flow, enabling cold-to-hot transport. We further show that nonreciprocity introduces an additional power channel associated with the antisymmetric sector of the interaction, leading to a generalized steady-state energy balance involving two reservoir heat currents and a nonreciprocal power current. At the fluctuation level, the heat exchanges with the two reservoirs constitute correlated yet distinct stochastic currents, whose joint scaled cumulant generating function obeys an exact Gallavotti-Cohen symmetry. Together, these results establish a unified energetic and fluctuation framework for nonreciprocal heat transport and demonstrate that directional interactions can serve as an active resource for controlling nonequilibrium energy flows.
ER -