title: Scaling of atomistic fluid dynamics simulations.
abstract: We have performed a series of large-scale atomistic simulations of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability including up to 5.7 x 10(9) particles and spanning time and length scales of up to 170 ns and 45 microm , respectively. The results suggest that atomistic fluid dynamics simulations exhibit the same scaling as solutions of the continuum Navier-Stokes equations. Furthermore, a comparison with macroscopic Rayleigh-Taylor experiments suggests that the results of such atomistic simulations can, in fact, be scaled up to macroscopic dimensions, even for complex, nonstationary flows.
authors.affiliation: Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA. kkadau@lanl.gov
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kadau
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Barber
authors.forename: Timothy C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Germann
authors.forename: Berni J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Alder