Constant-pressure and constant-surface tension simulations in dissipative particle dynamics

We present a method for constant-pressure and constant-surface tension simulations in dissipative particle dynamics using a Langevin piston approach. We demonstrate that the corresponding equations of motion lead to the relevant ensembles and propose an appropriate scheme of integration. After having identified a suitable set of parameters for the approach, we demonstrate the feasibility of the approach by applying it to two different systems, a simple isotropic fluid and an anisotropic fluid lipid-bilayer membrane in water. Results are presented for, respectively, isothermal bulk compressibility, tracer diffusion coefficient, lipid head-group area, and isothermal area compressibility. We find that our Langevin piston approach leads to improvements over other approaches in terms of faster equilibration and shorter correlation times of various system variables.