The velocity autocorrelation function of a finite model system

We investigate in detail the dependence of the velocity autocorrelation function of a one-dimensional system of hard, point particles with a simple velocity distribution function (all particles have velocities ±c) on the size of the system. In the thermodynamic limit, when both the number of particlesN and the length of the boxL approach infinity andN/L , the velocity autocorrelation function(t) is given simply by c² exp(–2ct@#@). For a finite system, the function_N(t) is periodic with period 2L/c. We also show that for more general velocity distribution functions (particles can have velocities ±c_i,i = 1,...),_N(t) is an almost periodic function oft. These examples illustrate the role of the thermodynamic limit in nonequilibrium phenomena: We must keept fixed while letting the size of the system become infinite to obtain an auto-correlation function, such as(t), which decays for all times and can be integrated to obtain transport coefficients. For any finite system, our_N(t) will be very close to(t) as long ast is small compared to the effective size of the system, which is 2L/c for the first model.Supported in part by the AFOSR under Contract No. F44620-71-C-0013.