Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 January 2013
The heat equation is considered in the complex system consisting of many small bodies(particles) embedded in a given material. On the surfaces of the small bodies aNewton-type boundary condition is imposed. An equation for the limiting field is derivedwhen the characteristic size a of the small bodies tends to zero, theirtotal number \hbox{$\mathcal{N}(a)$}𝒩(a) tends to infinity at a suitable rate, and the distanced = d(a) between neighboring smallbodies tends to zero a < < d. No periodicity isassumed about the distribution of the small bodies.