  A lattice Boltzmann model for amphiphilic fluid dynamics is presented. It is
a ternary model, in that it conserves mass separately for each chemical species
present (water, oil, amphiphile), and it maintains an orientational degree of
freedom for the amphiphilic species. Moreover, it models fluid interactions at
the microscopic level by introducing self-consistent forces between the
particles, rather than by positing a Landau free energy functional. This
combination of characteristics fills an important need in the hierarchy of
models currently available for amphiphilic fluid dynamics, enabling efficient
computer simulation and furnishing new theoretical insight. Several
computational results obtained from this model are presented and compared to
existing lattice-gas model results. In particular, it is noted that lamellar
structures, which are precluded by the Peierls instability in two-dimensional
systems with kinetic fluctuations, are not observed in lattice-gas models, but
are easily found in the corresponding lattice Boltzmann models. This points out
a striking difference in the phenomenology accessible to each type of model.
