Unified Statistical Theory of Heat Conduction in Nonuniform Media

Abstract: We present a theory of heat conduction that encompasses and extends the classical paradigm defined by Fourier law and the Kapitza interfacial conductance model. Derived from the Zwanzig projection operator formalism, our approach introduces a spatiotemporal kernel function of heat conduction, which governs the spatiotemporal response of the local heat flux in nonuniform media to surrounding temperature gradients while incorporating temporal memory effects. Our statistical analysis shows that memory, nonlocality, and interfacial temperature discontinuities emerge naturally from the microscopic coupling between two classes of irrelevant degrees of freedom: flux mode and nonlocal mode variables. Although these irrelevant variables are not directly observable at the macroscopic level, their integrated influence on the heat flux is fully encoded in the kernel function. In the diffusive limit, the kernel recovers and generalizes Fourier law by replacing the thermal conductivity with an infinite hierarchy of position dependent higher order tensors that capture nanoscale nonlocality. We also outline atomistic strategies for computing the spatiotemporal kernel in various classes of material media, enabling predictive modeling of heat transport in structurally complex and compositionally inhomogeneous systems. These include nanostructured, anisotropic, and interfacial materials where classical local models break down. Finally, the kernel function formalism is extensible to electronic, spin, or magnetic systems, providing a broadly applicable platform for next generation transport theory at ultrafast and nanoscale regimes.