Energy current magnification in coupled oscillator loops

Abstract

Motivated by studies on current magnification in quantum mesoscopic systems, we consider sound and heat transmission in classical models of oscillator chains. A loop of coupled oscillators is connected to two leads through which one can either transmit monochromatic waves or white-noise signal from heat baths. We look for the possibility of current magnification in this system due to some asymmetry introduced between the two arms in the loop. We find that current magnification is indeed obtained for particular frequency ranges. However, the integrated current shows the effect only in the presence of a pinning potential for the atoms in the leads. We also study the effect of anharmonicity on current magnification.