Spectral gap for harmonic and weakly anharmonic chain of oscillators

We consider one-dimensional chains and multi-dimensional networks of harmonic oscillators coupled to two Langevin heat reservoirs at different temperatures. Each particle interacts with its nearest neighbours by harmonic potentials and all individual particles are confined by harmonic potentials, too. In previous works we investigated the sharp N-particle dependence of the spectral gap of the associated generator in different physical scenarios and for different spatial dimensions. We also obtained estimates on the gap after perturbing weakly the quadratic potentials, through a Log-Sobolev Inequality. In this talk I will present new results on the behaviour of the spectral gap when considering longer-range interactions in the purely harmonic chain. In particular, depending on the strength of the longer-range interaction, there are different regimes appearing where the gap drastically changes behaviour but even the hypoellipticity of the operator breaks down. Parts of this talk are joint works with Simon Becker (ETH).