Adaptive tensor train metadynamics for high-dimensional free energy exploration

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Strand, Nils E., Yang, Siyao, Khoo, Yuehaw, Dinner, Aaron R.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866916057262850048
author Strand, Nils E.
Yang, Siyao
Khoo, Yuehaw
Dinner, Aaron R.
author_facet Strand, Nils E.
Yang, Siyao
Khoo, Yuehaw
Dinner, Aaron R.
contents A key challenge for molecular dynamics simulations is efficient exploration of free energy landscapes over relevant collective variables (CV). Common methods for enhancing sampling become prohibitively inefficient beyond only a few CVs; in the case of the widely-used metadynamics method, the computational cost of evaluating and storing the bias potential grows exponentially with the number of dimensions. Here, we introduce TT-Metadynamics, in which the accumulated sum of Gaussian functions in the original metadynamics method is periodically compressed into a low-rank tensor train (TT) representation. The TT enables efficient memory use and prevents the computational cost of evaluating the bias potential from increasing with simulation time. We present a "sketching" algorithm that allows us to construct the TT with linear scaling in the number of CVs. Applied to benchmark systems with up to 14 CVs, the accuracy of TT-Metadynamics matches or exceeds that of standard metadynamics in long simulations, particularly in systems with high barriers. These results establish TT-Metadynamics as a scalable and effective method for computing free energies that are functions of several CVs.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_13549
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Adaptive tensor train metadynamics for high-dimensional free energy exploration
Strand, Nils E.
Yang, Siyao
Khoo, Yuehaw
Dinner, Aaron R.
Chemical Physics
Statistical Mechanics
Computational Physics
A key challenge for molecular dynamics simulations is efficient exploration of free energy landscapes over relevant collective variables (CV). Common methods for enhancing sampling become prohibitively inefficient beyond only a few CVs; in the case of the widely-used metadynamics method, the computational cost of evaluating and storing the bias potential grows exponentially with the number of dimensions. Here, we introduce TT-Metadynamics, in which the accumulated sum of Gaussian functions in the original metadynamics method is periodically compressed into a low-rank tensor train (TT) representation. The TT enables efficient memory use and prevents the computational cost of evaluating the bias potential from increasing with simulation time. We present a "sketching" algorithm that allows us to construct the TT with linear scaling in the number of CVs. Applied to benchmark systems with up to 14 CVs, the accuracy of TT-Metadynamics matches or exceeds that of standard metadynamics in long simulations, particularly in systems with high barriers. These results establish TT-Metadynamics as a scalable and effective method for computing free energies that are functions of several CVs.
title Adaptive tensor train metadynamics for high-dimensional free energy exploration
topic Chemical Physics
Statistical Mechanics
Computational Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.13549