Diffusive Propagation of Energy in a Non-Acoustic Chain
  We consider a non acoustic chain of harmonic oscillators with the dynamics perturbed by a random local exchange of momentum, such that energy and momentum are conserved. The macroscopic limits of the energy density, momentum and the curvature (or bending) of the chain satisfy a system of evolution equations}. We prove that, in a diffusive space-time scaling, the curvature and momentum evolve following a linear system that corresponds to a damped Euler-Bernoulli beam equation. The macroscopic energy density evolves following a non linear diffusive equation. In particular the energy transfer is diffusive in this dynamics. This provides a first rigorous example of a normal diffusion of energy in a one dimensional dynamics that conserves the momentum. 
Tomasz Komorowski, Stefano Olla
math-ph cond-mat.stat-mech math.MP math.PR