Atomistic simulation of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability

Large-scale atomistic simulations are performed using both the molecular dynamics and direct simulation Monte Carlo algorithms. These simulations are used to investigate several aspects of turbulent behavior, focusing on the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, in which a heavy fluid lies on top of a light fluid in the presence of a gravitational field. The use of atomistic techniques allows us to capture various physical effects not resolved by more traditional continuum methods, such as the discontinuous breakup of flow features, and the effects of micro-scale fluctuations. In addition, we compare with both experiment and continuum simulations such properties as the initial growth spectrum of the interface, and the development in time of the mixing zone width.