Fourier's law of heat conduction: quantum mechanical master equation analysis.

We derive the macroscopic Fourier's Law of heat conduction from the exact gain-loss time convolutionless quantum master equation under three assumptions for the interaction kernel. To second order in the interaction, we show that the first two assumptions are natural results of the long time limit. The third assumption can be satisfied by a family of interactions consisting of an exchange effect. The pure exchange model directly leads to energy diffusion in a weakly coupled spin- 12 chain.