Magnetism Can Control Heat And Sound: OSU Research

A group of researchers from the Ohio State University (OSU) has demonstrated that phonons possess magnetic properties. In the research paper published in the journal Nature Materials, the team has illustrated how a magnetic field (about the size of a medical MRI) can manipulate the heat energy flowing through the semiconductor. The heat was decreased by 12 percent owing to the magnetic field that generated a diamagnetic response in phonons. These vibrating atoms, phonons, transmit both heat and sound. As per the researchers, they can control sound waves in magnetic field, too.

You may wonder how both heat and sound can be controlled by the same agent. Do they have anything to do with each other? Well, according to Joseph Heremans, Ph.D., a professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio State, both are expressions of the same form of energy in terms of quantum mechanics. This adds one more dimension for understanding acoustic waves. Therefore, if any force, for instance, magnetic force can influence heat, then that force can control sound as well. This magnetic effect was studied through various simulations conducted at Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC). The team also found that the responses of non-magnetic material to magnetic forces are due to a diamagnetic response which is inherent in these materials. Heat can be steered magnetically in any non-magnetic solid such as glass, stone, plastic, et al.


While stimulating the research, the team used a quantum mechanical modeling method called density functional theory (DFT) for finding out how the electron distribution change when atoms vibrate in the presence or absence of magnetic field. The movement of the electrons around their atoms changed in the presence of the field. Then, the diamagnetic movements were generated when phonons existed. Thereby, these moments decreased the heat energy magnetically. The simulations performed by an HP/Intel Xeon system called Oakley Cluster rendered peak performance of 154 Teraflops. The system can carry out 154 trillion calculations per second.

The research is at a nascent stage and the team intends to try and deflect sound waves magnetically. Further developments in the experiment may impact the future energy production processes. However, according to the researchers, this discovery will not have any practical applications in near future.

Source: OSU researchers prove magnetism can control heat, sound | Ohio Supercomputer Center