Coupled transport in rotor models

Steady nonequilibrium states are investigated in a one-dimensional setup in the presence of two thermodynamic currents. Two paradigmatic nonlinear oscillators models are investigated: an XY chain and the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Their distinctive feature is that the relevant variable is an angle in both cases. We point out the importance of clearly distinguishing between energy and heat flux. In fact, even in the presence of a vanishing Seebeck coefficient, a coupling between (angular) momentum and energy arises, mediated by the unavoidable presence of a coherent energy flux. Such a contribution is the result of the ‘advection’ induced by the position-dependent angular velocity. As a result, in the XY model, the knowledge of the two diagonal elements of the Onsager matrix suffices to reconstruct its transport properties. The analysis of the nonequilibrium steady states finally allows to strengthen the connection between the two models.