Ab-Initio Molecular Dynamics

Computer simulation methods, such as Monte Carlo or Molecular Dynamics, are very powerful computational techniques that provide detailed and essentially exact information on classical many-body problems. With the advent of ab-initio molecular dynamics, where the forces are computed on-the-fly by accurate electronic structure calculations, the scope of either method has been greatly extended. This new approach, which unifies Newton's and Schr\"odinger's equations, allows for complex simulations without relying on any adjustable parameter. This review is intended to outline the basic principles as well as a survey of the field. Beginning with the derivation of Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics, the Car-Parrinello method and the recently devised efficient and accurate Car-Parrinello-like approach to Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics, which unifies best of both schemes are discussed. The predictive power of this novel second-generation Car-Parrinello approach is demonstrated by a series of applications ranging from liquid metals, to semiconductors and water. This development allows for ab-initio molecular dynamics simulations on much larger length and time scales than previously thought feasible.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure

Effective Sampling in the Configurational Space by the Multicanonical-Multioverlap Algorithm

We propose a new generalized-ensemble algorithm, which we refer to as the multicanonical-multioverlap algorithm. By utilizing a non-Boltzmann weight factor, this method realizes a random walk in the multi-dimensional, energy-overlap space and explores widely in the configurational space including specific configurations, where the overlap of a configuration with respect to a reference state is a measure for structural similarity. We apply the multicanonical-multioverlap molecular dynamics method to a penta peptide, Met-enkephalin, in vacuum as a test system. We also apply the multicanonical and multioverlap molecular dynamics methods to this system for the purpose of comparisons. We see that the multicanonical-multioverlap molecular dynamics method realizes effective sampling in the configurational space including specific configurations more than the other two methods. From the results of the multicanonical-multioverlap molecular dynamics simulation, furthermore, we obtain a new local-minimum state of the Met-enkephalin system.Comment: 15 pages, (Revtex4), 9 figure

Molecular Dynamics of Yukawa System using the Fast Multipole Method

In order to perform the large-scale molecular dynamics simulation of the Yukawa system, a mathematical expression for molecular dynamics using the fast multipole method is described. The model simulations are also performed to test the performance of our implementation of the FMM

An efficient time-stepping scheme for ab initio molecular dynamics simulations

In ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of real-world problems, the simple Verlet method is still widely used for integrating the equations of motion, while more efficient algorithms are routinely used in classical molecular dynamics. We show that if the Verlet method is used in conjunction with pre- and postprocessing, the accuracy of the time integration is significantly improved with only a small computational overhead. The validity of the processed Verlet method is demonstrated in several examples including ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of liquid water. The structural properties obtained from the processed Verlet method are found to be sufficiently accurate even for large time steps close to the stability limit. This approach results in a 2x performance gain over the standard Verlet method for a given accuracy.Comment: 32 pages, 11 figure

Coupled continuum hydrodynamics and molecular dynamics method for multiscale simulation

We present a new hybrid methodology for carrying out multiscale simulations of flow problems lying between continuum hydrodynamics and molecular dynamics, where macro/micro lengthscale separation exists only in one direction. Our multiscale method consists of an iterative technique that couples mass and momentum flux between macro and micro domains, and is tested on a converging/diverging nanochannel case containing flow of a simple Lennard-Jones liquid. Comparisons agree well with a full MD simulation of the same test case