The hydrodynamics of thin films is typically described using macroscopic models whose connection to the microscopic particle dynamics is a subject of ongoing research. Existing methods based on density functional theory provide a good description of static thin films but are not sufficient for understanding nonequilibrium dynamics. In this work, we present a microscopic derivation of the thin film equation using the Mori–Zwanzig projection operator formalism. This method allows to directly obtain the correct gradient dynamics structure along with microscopic expressions for mobility and free energy. Our results are verified against molecular dynamics simulations for both simple fluids and polymers.
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The trace Tr includes an integral over the momenta . We have since is even and is odd in the momenta. By Eq. (10), this implies , which gives .
Compared to the usual definition, we add a prefactor 1/ρl in the transverse current and a prefactor in the transverse current correlation for convenience.
Typically, one sets z = z′ such that C depends only on one spatial coordinate, and consequently only on one wavenumber kz.
The exponential functions in Eq. (72) depend on the product νs. If we insert with the dimensionless time and the macroscopic characteristic time t0, which itself is proportional to ν, this gives a factor .