Molecular dynamics (MD) is the solution of Isaac Newton's classical equations of motion for a large number of atoms interacting with each other via nonlinear force laws, usually empirical in nature. Such simulations of atomic motion require computers, since analytic solutions exist for only a few simple interactions (such as no interactions for the ideal gas and linear forces for harmonic systems). The scope of systems studied by MD is truly grand -- solids, liquids, gases (even plasmas), in one, two, and three dimensions; monatomic and polyatomic (molecular) systems; simple and complex hydrodynamic flows, shock waves, deformation, fracture and plastic flow in solids, chemistry in solutions -- just to name a few that are studied in T-12 alone.
People in T-12 working in the general area of MD include: