Kinetics of Phase Separation in Fluids: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Abstract: We present results from extensive 3-d molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of phase separation kinetics in fluids. A coarse-graining procedure is used to obtain state-of-the-art MD results. We observe an extended period of temporally linear growth in the viscous hydrodynamic regime. The morphological similarity of coarsening in fluids and solids is also quantified. The velocity field is characterized by the presence of monopole-like defects, which yield a generalized Porod tail in the corresponding structure factor.