Simulation of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability using atomistic methods

There are several advantages to the use of atomistic methods to fluid turbulence. Continuum models, such as the NS equations, are known to fail in several regimes, such as in extremely rarified (high Knudsen number) flows, and flows at very small length scales. More fundamental atomistic methods are applicable in a much wider set of regimes. Furthermore, for applications involving interface dynamics, such as the RTI, MD, and DSMC have the advantage of allowing an initially flat interface, as opposed to the somewhat artificial initial perturbation spectrum that must be applied in a continuum simulation. In addition, it is much easier to control the degree of miscibility in atomistic methods (particularly MD). The main disadvantages of atomistic methods are the small length and time scales to which they are confined by the limits of current computational capacity. These limits are continually being pushed back, however, as evidenced by the simulations performed in this work.