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The thermal diffusivity is a parameter that determines the speed and attenuation of a thermal wave propagating through a material. In this paper we show, using the kinetic model for thermal transport, that the thermal diffusivity is also proportional to the mean free path of the heat carriers. Thus, the thermal diffusivity has the added feature of being directly related to an important transport property of the excitations that carry the heat. Thermal diffusivity and mean free path data are presented for an amorphous insulating solid, Pyrex 7740 glass, in the temperature range from 25 to 300 K.
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Yang et al. (1994) studied this question.
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