NCCR MARVEL researchers have developed a novel microscopic theory that is able to describe heat transport in very general ways, and applies equally well to ordered or disordered materials such as crystals or glasses and to anything in between. This is not only a significant first, it also shows, surprisingly, that heat can tunnel, quantum-mechanically, rather than diffuse away, like an atomic vibration. The new equation will also allow the accurate prediction of the performance of thermoelectric materials for the first time.
