Systematic coarse graining: "Four lessons and a caveat" from nonequilibrium statistical mechanics

With the guidance offered by nonequilibrium statistical thermodynamics, simulation techniques are elevated from brute-force computer experiments to systematic tools for extracting complete, redundancy-free and consistent coarse grained information for dynamic systems. We sketch the role and potential of Monte Carlo, molecular dynamics and Brownian dynamics simulations in the thermodynamic approach to coarse graining. A melt of entangled linear polyethylene molecules serves us as an illustrative example.