https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2008-00070-8
Thermalization in open classical systems with finite heat baths
1
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, 6127 Wilder Laboratory, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA
2
Dipartimento di Fisica “Galileo Galilei”, Università di Padova, via Marzolo 8, Padova, 35131, Italy
3
Center for Statistical Mechanics and Complexity, INFM-CNR, Unità di Roma 1, Roma, 00185, Italy
Corresponding author: a onofrio@pd.infn.it
Received:
18
October
2007
Revised:
11
January
2008
Published online:
20
February
2008
We discuss thermalization of a test particle schematized as a harmonic oscillator and coupled to a Boltzmann heat bath of finite size and with a finite bandwidth for the frequencies of its particles. We find that complete thermalization only occurs when the test particle frequency is within a certain range of the bath particle frequencies, and for a certain range of mass ratios between the test particle and the bath particles. These results have implications for the study of classical and quantum behaviour of high-frequency nanomechanical resonators.
PACS: 05.40.Jc – Brownian motion / 05.70.Ln – Nonequilibrium and irreversible thermodynamics / 62.25.-g – Mechanical properties of nanoscale systems / 83.10.Rs – Computer simulation of molecular and particle dynamics
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2008
