- Open Access
Unifying renormalized and bare viscosity in two-dimensional molecular dynamics simulations
Phys. Rev. Research 8, 013234 – Published 3 March, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/58g1-c78g
Abstract
Fluctuating hydrodynamics provides a framework connecting mesoscopic fluctuations with macroscopic transport behavior. To bridge mesoscopic and macroscopic transport from microscopic dynamics, we introduce a wave-number-dependent viscosity, defined via the equilibrium correlation of time-averaged Fourier components of the fine-grained shear stress field. Two-dimensional molecular dynamics simulations reveal its small-wave-number divergence characteristic of the renormalized viscosity, while its large-wave-number behavior determines the bare viscosity, thereby establishing a link between mesoscopic and macroscopic transport based on microscopic dynamics.
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