Dynamical mechanisms leading to equilibration in two-component gases.

De Bièvre, Stephan; Mejía-Monasterio, Carlos; Parris, Paul E · Phys Rev E · 2016

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Demonstrating how microscopic dynamics cause large systems to approach thermal equilibrium remains an elusive, longstanding, and actively pursued goal of statistical mechanics. We identify here a dynamical mechanism for thermalization in a general class of two-component dynamical Lorentz gases and prove that each component, even when maintained in a nonequilibrium state itself, can drive the other to a thermal state with a well-defined effective temperature.