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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

The Diffusion of Passive Tracers in Laminar Shear Flow
Published on: May 1, 2018
Spreading in narrow channels
C Dotti1, A Gambassi, M N Popescu
1Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Heisenbergstrasse 3, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
Abstract:
We study a lattice model for the spreading of fluid films, which are a few molecular layers thick, in narrow channels with inert lateral walls. We focus on systems connected to two particle reservoirs at different chemical potentials, considering an attractive substrate potential at the bottom, confining sidewalls, and hard-core repulsive fluid-fluid interactions. Using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations we find a diffusive behavior. The corresponding diffusion coefficient depends on the density and is bounded from below by the free one-dimensional diffusion coefficient, valid for an inert bottom wall. These numerical results are rationalized within the corresponding continuum limit.
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