Molecular Dynamics Study of Rayleigh-Plateau Instability at Liquid-Liquid Interfaces

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kikuchi, Shunta, Watanabe, Hiroshi
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Kikuchi, Shunta
Watanabe, Hiroshi
author_facet Kikuchi, Shunta
Watanabe, Hiroshi
contents We investigated the Rayleigh-Plateau instability at the interface between two immiscible liquids of equal viscosity using molecular dynamics simulations. Two types of initial conditions were considered, one with an imposed single-mode perturbation at the interface and the other without any imposed perturbation. Under the single-mode perturbation, the growth rate deviated from the theoretical prediction for small cylinder radii, but progressively approached and agreed with classical macroscopic theory as the radius increased. In contrast, for the unperturbed initial condition, we found a systematic relationship between the breakup time and the minimum radius, in which the power-law exponent increased with increasing radius. These results demonstrate that, even in extremely microscopic systems with cylinder radii on the order of only about fifteen atomic diameters, the growth of the instability can follow macroscopic theoretical predictions when appropriate conditions are imposed, and that the influence of thermal fluctuations on the breakup dynamics becomes increasingly significant as the system radius decreases.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_13786
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Molecular Dynamics Study of Rayleigh-Plateau Instability at Liquid-Liquid Interfaces
Kikuchi, Shunta
Watanabe, Hiroshi
Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
We investigated the Rayleigh-Plateau instability at the interface between two immiscible liquids of equal viscosity using molecular dynamics simulations. Two types of initial conditions were considered, one with an imposed single-mode perturbation at the interface and the other without any imposed perturbation. Under the single-mode perturbation, the growth rate deviated from the theoretical prediction for small cylinder radii, but progressively approached and agreed with classical macroscopic theory as the radius increased. In contrast, for the unperturbed initial condition, we found a systematic relationship between the breakup time and the minimum radius, in which the power-law exponent increased with increasing radius. These results demonstrate that, even in extremely microscopic systems with cylinder radii on the order of only about fifteen atomic diameters, the growth of the instability can follow macroscopic theoretical predictions when appropriate conditions are imposed, and that the influence of thermal fluctuations on the breakup dynamics becomes increasingly significant as the system radius decreases.
title Molecular Dynamics Study of Rayleigh-Plateau Instability at Liquid-Liquid Interfaces
topic Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.13786