Local temperature measurement in molecular dynamics simulations with rigid constraints

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Sanderson, Stephen, Tee, Shern R., Searles, Debra J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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_version_ 1866915877778096128
author Sanderson, Stephen
Tee, Shern R.
Searles, Debra J.
author_facet Sanderson, Stephen
Tee, Shern R.
Searles, Debra J.
contents Constraining molecules in simulations (such as with constant bond lengths and/or angles) reduces their degrees of freedom (DoF), which in turn affects temperature calculations in those simulations. When local temperatures are measured, e.g. from a set of atoms in a subvolume or from velocities in one Cartesian direction, the result can appear to unphysically violate equipartition of the kinetic energy if the local DoF are not correctly calculated. Here we determine how to correctly calculate local temperatures from arbitrary Cartesian component kinetic energies, accounting for general geometric constraints, by self-consistently evaluating the DoF of atoms subjected to those constraints. The method is validated on a variety of test systems, including systems subject to a temperature gradient and those confined between walls. It is also shown to provide a sensitive test for the breakdown of kinetic energy equipartition caused by the approximate nature of numerical integration or insufficient equilibration times. As a practical demonstration, we show that kinetic energy equipartition between C and H atoms connected by rigid bonds can be violated even at the commonly-used time step of 2 fs, and that this equipartition violation appears to usefully indicate configurational overheating.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_11171
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Local temperature measurement in molecular dynamics simulations with rigid constraints
Sanderson, Stephen
Tee, Shern R.
Searles, Debra J.
Statistical Mechanics
Soft Condensed Matter
Mathematical Physics
Chemical Physics
Classical Physics
Constraining molecules in simulations (such as with constant bond lengths and/or angles) reduces their degrees of freedom (DoF), which in turn affects temperature calculations in those simulations. When local temperatures are measured, e.g. from a set of atoms in a subvolume or from velocities in one Cartesian direction, the result can appear to unphysically violate equipartition of the kinetic energy if the local DoF are not correctly calculated. Here we determine how to correctly calculate local temperatures from arbitrary Cartesian component kinetic energies, accounting for general geometric constraints, by self-consistently evaluating the DoF of atoms subjected to those constraints. The method is validated on a variety of test systems, including systems subject to a temperature gradient and those confined between walls. It is also shown to provide a sensitive test for the breakdown of kinetic energy equipartition caused by the approximate nature of numerical integration or insufficient equilibration times. As a practical demonstration, we show that kinetic energy equipartition between C and H atoms connected by rigid bonds can be violated even at the commonly-used time step of 2 fs, and that this equipartition violation appears to usefully indicate configurational overheating.
title Local temperature measurement in molecular dynamics simulations with rigid constraints
topic Statistical Mechanics
Soft Condensed Matter
Mathematical Physics
Chemical Physics
Classical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.11171