A recent Letter [M. H. Lee, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 190601 (2007)] has called attention to the fact that irreversibility is a broader concept than ergodicity, and that therefore the Khinchin theorem [A. I. Khinchin, Mathematical Foundations of Statistical Mechanics (Dover, New York, 1949)] may fail in some systems. In this Letter we show that for all ranges of normal and anomalous diffusion described by a generalized Langevin equation the Khinchin theorem holds.

We analyze the heat transfer between two nanoparticles separated by a distance lying in the near-field domain in which energy interchange is due to the Coulomb interactions. The thermal conductance is computed by assuming that the particles have charge distributions characterized by fluctuating multipole moments in equilibrium with heat baths at two different temperatures. This quantity follows from the fluctuation-dissipation theorem for the fluctuations of the multipolar moments. We compare the behavior of the conductance as a function of the distance between the particles with the result obtained by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The formalism proposed enables us to provide a comprehensive explanation of the marked growth of the conductance when decreasing the distance between the nanoparticles.

We show that the observed nonmonotonic behavior of the thermal conductance between two nanoparticles when they are brought into contact is originated by an intricate phase space dynamics. Here it is assumed that this dynamics results from the thermally activated jumping through a rough energy landscape. A hierarchy of relaxation times plays the key role in the description of this complex phase space behavior. Our theory enables us to analyze the heat transfer just before and at the moment of contact.

We show that the maximum work that can be obtained from the thermal radiation emitted between two planar sources in the near-field regime is much larger than that corresponding to the blackbody limit. This quantity, as well as an upper bound, for the efficiency of the process is computed from the formulation of thermodynamics in the near-field regime. The case when the difference of temperatures of the hot source and the environment is small, relevant for energy harvesting, is studied in detail. We also show that thermal radiation energy conversion can be more efficient in the near-field regime. These results open new possibilities for the design of energy converters that can be used to harvest energy from sources of moderate temperature at the nanoscale.