Simulation of quasi-two-dimensional dipolar systems

A brief survey is given of recent simulation work of quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) systems, monolayers and systems of finite thickness, involving dipolar interactions. Representative examples include colloidal particles at an interface, electrorheological fluids, magnetic thin films, nanocrystals deposited on a substrate etc. Methodological aspects related to the long range of the dipolar interaction and its directional nature (energy calculation, cluster moves) are summarized. Taking as an example a bilayer of dipolar hard spheres, we demonstrate that the energy and structural properties of a thin slab of dipolar particles periodic in two dimensions and finite in the third can be accurately calculated by means of the usual three-dimensional Ewald sum. Some new simulation results for the structural properties of Q2D dipolar hard spheres with additional attraction, in an external field or in bilayers, are presented.