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Nature 421, 327 (23 January 2003) | doi:10.1038/421327a

Thermal physics: Heat in one dimension

Roberto Livi & Stefano Lepri

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Heat is transferred along a temperature gradient, from hot to cold, at a rate determined by the thermal conductivity of the material. But is the situation so straightforward in fewer than three dimensions?

Many phenomena in nature occur as the result of some kind of imbalance. For instance, an electric current flows when there is a difference in electric potential along a conductor (such as when an electric field is applied), and heat is transported when there is a temperature gradient between two boundaries of a material.