Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA.
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom.
J Chem Phys. 2023 Jan 28;158(4):040901. doi: 10.1063/5.0132487.
The pressure tensor (equivalent to the negative stress tensor) at both microscopic and macroscopic levels is fundamental to many aspects of engineering and science, including fluid dynamics, solid mechanics, biophysics, and thermodynamics. In this Perspective, we review methods to calculate the microscopic pressure tensor. Connections between different pressure forms for equilibrium and nonequilibrium systems are established. We also point out several challenges in the field, including the historical controversies over the definition of the microscopic pressure tensor; the difficulties with many-body and long-range potentials; the insufficiency of software and computational tools; and the lack of experimental routes to probe the pressure tensor at the nanoscale. Possible future directions are suggested.
压力张量（相当于负应力张量）在微观和宏观层面上对于许多工程和科学领域都至关重要，包括流体动力学、固体力学、生物物理学和热力学。在本观点中，我们回顾了计算微观压力张量的方法。建立了平衡和非平衡系统不同压力形式之间的联系。我们还指出了该领域的几个挑战，包括微观压力张量定义的历史争议；多体和长程势的困难；软件和计算工具的不足；以及缺乏纳米尺度探测压力张量的实验途径。提出了可能的未来方向。
