Studies in Molecular Dynamics of the Friction Coefficient and the Lorentz Gas

摘要

The thesis consists of three hard-sphere molecular dynamics studies. The first describes a modification of Fick's diffusion law, required whenever long-time correlations are present. The second study concerns the mass and size dependence of the friction coefficient as well as its dependence on boundary conditions. The study presents a molecular dynamics method which calculates the infinite-mass friction coefficient of finite size hard-sphere particles. The third study presents the applicability of hydrodynamics to describe fluctuations in fluids on the molecular level. This study shows that the fluctuations present in a system of hard spheres when placed between closely spaced parallel hard walls lead to an acoustical resonance for those wavelengths which correspond to the spacing, or integer fractions thereof. (ERA citation 04:050675)