Thermoelasticity with Finite Wave Speeds

摘要

As someone who has studied models of heat transport and theories of thermoelasticity for over a decade now, I find this book to be a much needed, and thus very welcomed, addition to the literature. The main focus of the book, authored by two of the world's most distinguished experts in the field of thermomechanics, is directed towards those modern, dynamical theories of coupled thermoelasticity that have been put forth in an effort to overcome what has come to be known as the "paradox of heat conduction" (or PHC), i.e., the prediction by the classical theory that a thermal disturbance at some point in a thermally conducting body will be felt instantly, but unequally, at all other points in the body, however distant. Although it represents a violation of a basic tenant of modern physics, namely, the notion of causality, the PHC turns out to be relatively easy (from the mathematical standpoint) to eliminate, provided we accept the hypothesis that heat is transported via the propagation of what Landau termed second-sound (i.e., thermal waves).