Tunable Mpemba effect in a polymer-bead system with inertia
Soft Condensed Matter
2026-07-16 v1 Statistical Mechanics
Abstract
We propose an experimentally motivated model in which the Mpemba effect can be controlled through the system's inertia. The model describes a polymer undergoing a denaturation transition whose force-extension curve contains a plateau that slows relaxation. When the system is initially prepared at a higher temperature or under a weaker stretching force, the bead accumulates greater kinetic energy, allowing it to cross the plateau more rapidly and thereby producing the Mpemba effect. Increasing the bead mass broadens the range of initial temperatures over which this mechanism operates. A similar mechanism also generates the inverse Mpemba effect.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2607.15266,
title = {Tunable Mpemba effect in a polymer-bead system with inertia},
author = {Hosung Kwak and Yongjoo Baek and Hawoong Jeong},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.15266},
year = {2026}
}