Efficient simulations of microscopic fluids: Algorithm and experiments

A strategy to make efficient simulations of systems of several thousand particles interacting via a piecewise constant potential is described. A performance of several million collisions per hour is perfectly attainable in present day standard workstations. This program is particularly appropriate for hydrodynamic studies at a microscopic level in situations near or far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Two illustrative applications are summarily described: free thermal convection and Poiseuille flux.