Perspective: Dissipative Particle Dynamics

TL;DR

This paper reviews the development and current state of dissipative particle dynamics (DPD), a mesoscale simulation method for complex fluids, highlighting its conceptual improvements, challenges, and future directions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution, foundational principles, recent advances, and future challenges of DPD modeling in soft matter research.

Findings

Summarizes key conceptual improvements in DPD

Discusses microscopic foundations of DPD

Identifies outstanding challenges and future directions

Abstract

Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) belongs to a class of models and computational algorithms developed to address mesoscale problems in complex fluids and soft matter in general. It is based on the notion of particles that represent coarse-grained portions of the system under study and allow, therefore, to reach time and length scales that would be otherwise unreachable from microscopic simulations. The method has been conceptually refined since its introduction almost twenty five years ago. This perspective surveys the major conceptual improvements in the original DPD model, along with its microscopic foundation, and discusses outstanding challenges in the field. We summarize some recent advances and suggests avenues for future developments.