A Unfied Thermal Transport Picture Across Phases via Spatiotemporal Coherence

A Unfied Thermal Transport Picture Across Phases via Spatiotemporal Coherence | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article A Unfied Thermal Transport Picture Across Phases via Spatiotemporal Coherence Sebastian Volz, Jie Chen, Zhongwei Zhang, Yangyu Guo, Marc Bescond This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8228220/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The coherence of lattice vibrations in crystals, quantized by phonons, significantly influences thermal transport and its vibrational characteristics in dfferent states of aggregates, extending alike to complex and amorphous matters. However, understanding how transport mechanisms vary with disorder across phases of matters from a common picture of coherence remains a critical issue. Particularly, we unveil that the non-monotonic dependence of thermal conductivity on temperature across different phases in general is governed by spatiotemporal coherence. Our wavelet transform approach demonstrates that spatiotemporal coherence diminishes in the transition from solid to liquid but in contrast is unexpectedly reversely enhanced from liquid to gas, resulting in a delayed dissipation of thermal energy and thereby increasing the thermal conductivity. We emphasize that this enhancement is initiated by atomic diffusion during the phase transition. The general behavior of thermal vibrations and conduction across phases is explained via those underlying drastic changes in the coherence nature of heat carriers, which is crucial for understanding and predicting thermal transport features from a uni ed perspective. Physical sciences/Physics/Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics/Thermodynamics Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Phase transitions and critical phenomena Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files supplementarymaterial.pdf Supplementary Material for `A Unified Thermal Transport Picture Across Phases Via Spatiotemporal Coherence' Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8228220","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":555664310,"identity":"f7f54a44-7c7f-4453-9a74-69aa339a49f1","order_by":0,"name":"Sebastian Volz","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA9ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFAC5gaGDwYSUM4BKC2BQzEEMDYwzoBoYWwgWgszD4wF14IPGBxvbP5sU2BhzyCRwP7gw5nDcgzshx8wWO7Ao+XMwQbjHAOJxAaJBMbGGTcOGzPwpBkwSJ7BrUVyRmJDMlBLAoNE/sdmng+HExsYcoDCbfi1HLYwkAA5jBGihf8Nfi38EomNzQwGEowNYC03gFokCNjCz3OwmbEH6Jc2ngeMM2ecSTdmk3hmcACfX9jYmw9/+PGnzp6fPYHhw4dj1nL8/MkPH0viCTGEXgjVDGYclmwgQgsU1IFJxo8kaBkFo2AUjIJhDwB4n0t7vVb4UAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2069-9480","institution":"Laboratory for Integrated Micro-Mechatronic Systems/CNRS","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sebastian","middleName":"","lastName":"Volz","suffix":""},{"id":555664311,"identity":"d5af76a2-1bcf-4952-a7ba-5503cf490895","order_by":1,"name":"Jie Chen","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4599-3600","institution":"Tongji University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jie","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""},{"id":555664312,"identity":"212ee3ff-e772-4524-a079-a7b2957ac74c","order_by":2,"name":"Zhongwei Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tongji University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhongwei","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":555664313,"identity":"754f8bbb-5df9-4f23-9cd1-568ae13953c2","order_by":3,"name":"Yangyu Guo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Harbin Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yangyu","middleName":"","lastName":"Guo","suffix":""},{"id":555664314,"identity":"ac2d8d36-edea-4a46-9753-3c43d0c25fb3","order_by":4,"name":"Marc Bescond","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Tokyo","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marc","middleName":"","lastName":"Bescond","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-11-28 08:30:31","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8228220/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8228220/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":97653327,"identity":"c9c811ca-c125-4ac2-bb08-1bd87ae9f872","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-08 06:51:52","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":20586537,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript18Nov25.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8228220/v1/6b9ca4c0989f145b288f179d.pdf"},{"id":97653325,"identity":"5a910bec-8e16-4b8a-bd13-ef054ce7c349","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-08 06:51:51","extension":"json","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":6612,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"NCOMMS2596084.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8228220/v1/18a8261e896ea3d86cf7c722.json"},{"id":97653328,"identity":"b6f12047-9d31-4a17-b30e-43cd74efa33f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-08 06:51:52","extension":"pdf","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":15307930,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"supplementarymaterial.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8228220/v1/c67d57d49f8b93f10ae2631b.pdf"},{"id":97674450,"identity":"104a2937-4dde-4fad-81d6-fdcccb9e725b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-08 09:43:18","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":8002688,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"manuscript18Nov25.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8228220/v1_covered_af3499bc-ff20-42d9-9f14-352a496c75e4.pdf"},{"id":97653326,"identity":"c0df4b88-c6b3-407c-915d-ce64a698c7b7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-08 06:51:52","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":15307930,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplementary Material for `A Unified Thermal Transport Picture Across Phases Via Spatiotemporal Coherence'","description":"","filename":"supplementarymaterial.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8228220/v1/2a5eecf948db426b4ddad0b0.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"A Unfied Thermal Transport Picture Across Phases via Spatiotemporal Coherence","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8228220/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8228220/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The coherence of lattice vibrations in crystals, quantized by phonons, significantly influences thermal transport and its vibrational characteristics in dfferent states of aggregates, extending\r\nalike to complex and amorphous matters. However, understanding how transport mechanisms vary\r\nwith disorder across phases of matters from a common picture of coherence remains a critical issue.\r\nParticularly, we unveil that the non-monotonic dependence of thermal conductivity on temperature\r\nacross different phases in general is governed by spatiotemporal coherence. Our wavelet transform\r\napproach demonstrates that spatiotemporal coherence diminishes in the transition from solid to\r\nliquid but in contrast is unexpectedly reversely enhanced from liquid to gas, resulting in a delayed\r\ndissipation of thermal energy and thereby increasing the thermal conductivity. We emphasize that\r\nthis enhancement is initiated by atomic diffusion during the phase transition. The general behavior\r\nof thermal vibrations and conduction across phases is explained via those underlying drastic changes\r\nin the coherence nature of heat carriers, which is crucial for understanding and predicting thermal\r\ntransport features from a uni ed perspective.","manuscriptTitle":"A Unfied Thermal Transport Picture Across Phases via Spatiotemporal Coherence","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-08 06:51:47","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8228220/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"00551d1c-d844-493b-ac83-26db9d058c19","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 8th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":59137349,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics/Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics/Thermodynamics"},{"id":59137350,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Phase transitions and critical phenomena"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-06T15:12:06+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-08 06:51:47","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8228220","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8228220","identity":"rs-8228220","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}