Wigner Equations for Phonons Transport and Quantum Heat Flux

Abstract Starting from the quantum Liouville equation for the density operator and applying the Weyl quantization, Wigner equations for the acoustic, optical and Z phonons are deduced. The equations are valid for any solid, including 2D crystals like graphene. With the use of Moyal’s calculus and its properties, the pseudo-differential operators are expanded up to the second order in $$\hbar $$ ħ . An energy transport model is obtained by using the moment method with closure relations based on a quantum version of the Maximum Entropy Principle by employing a relaxation time approximation for the production terms of energy and energy flux. An explicit form of the thermal conductivity with quantum correction up to $$\hbar ^2$$ ħ 2 order is obtained under a long-time scaling for the most relevant phonon branches.