Nonlinear natural engine: Model for thermodynamic processes in mesoscale systems.

To develop intuition on the possible application of concepts from thermodynamic heat engines to mesoscale systems, we have constructed and studied a model thermoacoustic heat engine. The model consists of a chain of coupled nonlinear acoustic vibrators in which the primary thermodynamic medium is argon gas, the secondary thermodynamic medium is constituted by solids bounding the gas, and frequencies are ca. 3 x 10(2) Hz. The nonlinear elements are the necks, made flexible by means of an oil-loaded DuPont Kapton film, of Helmholtz resonators. When the primary medium is driven uniformly by an acoustic driver at a frequency somewhat below the low-amplitude resonant frequency and at a high enough driving amplitude, stationary localized or solitary states appear irreversibly on the chain. These are characterized by a higher vibrational amplitude than that in surrounding vibrators, where the amplitude can decrease; by the appearance of deep subharmonics of the drive frequency, corresponding to driven low-frequency vibrations of the Kapton film-oil systems; and by the pumping of heat toward the localized states. Possible implications of these results for mesoscale systems consisting of chains of molecular vibrators are then discussed.