Principal Investigator

D J Evans Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, RSC, ANU

Project Title

Calculation of the Stability of Phase Space Trajectories Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Brief Description for General Publications

The Lyapunov exponents of a liquid system are a measure of the dynamical stability of a system and can be related to transport properties of the liquid such as the viscosity and the thermal conductivity. If the spectrum of Lyapunov exponents is symmetric, calculation of these liquid state properties from the Lyapunov exponents is facilitated. Studies of the structure of the spectrum are therefore being carried out. A number of relationships between the Lyapunov exponents and properties of fluids have now been developed. In this project new relationships will be derived and checked using numerical simulation. A major focus of this project in the next year will be to clarify the symmetry of exponents in the limit of low fields.