Wave equations for the heat flux and the pressure tensor in non-equilibrium thermodynamics (Q1371040)

We derive equations for the heat flux and the pressure stress tensor and its trace for a complex fluid without structure evolution. With this set of equations, we obtain a telegrapher's type wave equation for each variable coupled to forced terms of the other variable. Then we express the evolution equations as wave equations because with the help of propagation laws for waves, it is possible to analyze the response of the fluid to small local or instantaneous perturbations. Moreover, our results can be identified with three propagation velocities having thermofluid effects. These results are different from those experimentally found in an anisotropic solid when heat pulses are applied. We also compare our wave equation for the heat flux with the equation obtained for an isotropic medium.