Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2026

An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids
Published on: December 4, 2017
Viscosity and mutual diffusion of deuterium-tritium mixtures in the warm-dense-matter regime
J D Kress1, James S Cohen, D A Horner
1Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
Abstract:
We have calculated viscosity and mutual diffusion of deuterium-tritium (DT) in the warm, dense matter regime for densities from 5 to 20 g/cm{3} and temperatures from 2 to 10 eV, using both finite-temperature Kohn-Sham density-functional theory molecular dynamics (QMD) and orbital-free molecular dynamics (OFMD). The OFMD simulations are in generally good agreement with the benchmark QMD results, and we conclude that the simpler OFMD method can be used with confidence in this regime. For low temperatures (3 eV and below), one-component plasma (OCP) model simulations for diffusion agree with the QMD and OFMD calculations, but deviate by 30% at 10 eV. In comparison with the QMD and OFMD results, the OCP viscosities are not as good as for diffusion, especially for 5 g/cm{3} where the temperature dependence is significantly different. The QMD and OFMD reduced diffusion and viscosity coefficients are found to depend largely, though not completely, only on the Coulomb coupling parameter Γ , with a minimum in the reduced viscosity at Γ≈25 , approximately the same position found in the OCP simulations. The QMD and OFMD equations of state (pressure) are also compared with the hydrogen two-component plasma model.
Related Concept Videos
The Thermodynamics of Mixing
Viscosity of Fluid
Real Gases: Effects of Intermolecular Forces and Molecular Volume Deriving Van der Waals Equation
Heat Capacities of an Ideal Gas III
Theories of Dissolution: Diffusion Layer Model
This process starts with a thin layer, saturated with the drug, forming at the interface between the solid and liquid. The solute then diffuses from this layer into the main solution. The Noyes-Whitney equation suggests that the rate of dissolution relies on the diffusion...
Heat Capacities of an Ideal Gas II

