Mainz 2026 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 79: Cavity QED and QED III

Q 79.1: Talk

Friday, March 6, 2026, 14:30–14:45, P 4

Heat transport between nonreciprocal media — Nico Strauß, •Omar Jesus Franca Santiago, and Stefan Yoshi Buhmann — Institute of Physics, University of Kassel, Germany

The second law of thermodynamics dictates that heat flows from warm to cold objects, thereby providing a direction of time [1]. In the optics of nonreciprocal media [2], an arrow of time is alternatively provided by the observation that optical paths cannot be reversed. How are these two notions compatible at the level of quantum electro- dynamics? In order to answer this question, we analyse the near-field heat transfer in a three-layer system constituted by nonreciprocal media with special focus on three-dimensional topological insulators, which break time-reversal symmetry. We investigate the impact of these materials on the heat transfer.

References

[1] Volokitin, A. I.; Persson, B. N. J. Rev. Mod. Phys. 4, 79 (2007).

[2] S. Y. Buhmann et al., New J. Phys. 14, 083034 (2012).

[3] Nico Strauß, Heat transfer in macroscopic electrodynamics. Doctoral Dissertation, University Kassel, 2025.

Keywords: Heat transfer; Nonreciprocal media; Topological insulators; macroscopic QED