Car-Parrinello

Specific solute-solvent interactions involving the first solvation shell only can be treated in detail by discrete solvent models. The various approaches like point charge models, siipennoleciilar calculations, quantum theories of reactions in solution, and their implementations in Monte Carlo methods and molecular dynamics simulations like the Car-Parrinello method are discussed elsewhere in this encyclopedia. Here only some points will be briefly mentioned that seem of relevance for later sections. 

Figure B3.3.12. Sulphur atoms in liquid iron at the Earth s core conditions, simnlated by first-principle Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics, (a) Initial conditions, showing a mannally-prepared initial cluster of snlphur atoms, (b) A short tune later, indicating spontaneous dispersal of the snlphur atoms, which mingle with the surroundmg iron atoms. Thanks are dne to D Alfe and M J Gillan for this figure. For fiirtlier details see [210. 211].

Remler D K and Madden P A 1990 Molecular dynamics without effective potentials via the Car-Parrinello approach Mol. Phys. 70 921-66... 

While simulations reach into larger time spans, the inaccuracies of force fields become more apparent on the one hand properties based on free energies, which were never used for parametrization, are computed more accurately and discrepancies show up on the other hand longer simulations, particularly of proteins, show more subtle discrepancies that only appear after nanoseconds. Thus force fields are under constant revision as far as their parameters are concerned, and this process will continue. Unfortunately the form of the potentials is hardly considered and the refinement leads to an increasing number of distinct atom types with a proliferating number of parameters and a severe detoriation of transferability. The increased use of quantum mechanics to derive potentials will not really improve this situation ab initio quantum mechanics is not reliable enough on the level of kT, and on-the-fly use of quantum methods to derive forces, as in the Car-Parrinello method, is not likely to be applicable to very large systems in the foreseeable future. 

Abstract. We present novel time integration schemes for Newtonian dynamics whose fastest oscillations are nearly harmonic, for constrained Newtonian dynamics including the Car-Parrinello equations of ab initio molecular dynamics, and for mixed quantum-classical molecular dynamics. The methods attain favorable properties by using matrix-function vector products which are computed via Lanczos method. This permits to take longer time steps than in standard integrators. 

Car-Parrinello Equations of Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics, Constrained Newtonian Dynamics... 

In the Car-Parrinello method [6] (and see, e.g., [24, 25, 16, 4]), the adiabatic time-dependent Born-Oppenheimer model is approximated by a fictitious Newtonian dynamics in which the electrons, represented by a set of... 

F. A. Bornemann and Ch. Schutte. A mathematical investigation of the Car-Parrinello method. Preprint SC 96-19, ZIB Berlin, 1996. To appear in Numer. Math. 

Abstract. This paper presents results from quantum molecular dynamics Simula tions applied to catalytic reactions, focusing on ethylene polymerization by metallocene catalysts. The entire reaction path could be monitored, showing the full molecular dynamics of the reaction. Detailed information on, e.g., the importance of the so-called agostic interaction could be obtained. Also presented are results of static simulations of the Car-Parrinello type, applied to orthorhombic crystalline polyethylene. These simulations for the first time led to a first principles value for the ultimate Young s modulus of a synthetic polymer with demonstrated basis set convergence, taking into account the full three-dimensional structure of the crystal. 

The Car-Parrinello quantum molecular dynamics technique, introduced by Car and Parrinello in 1985 [1], has been applied to a variety of problems, mainly in physics. The apparent efficiency of the technique, and the fact that it combines a description at the quantum mechanical level with explicit molecular dynamics, suggests that this technique might be ideally suited to study chemical reactions. The bond breaking and formation phenomena characteristic of chemical reactions require a quantum mechanical description, and these phenomena inherently involve molecular dynamics. In 1994 it was shown for the first time that this technique may indeed be applied efficiently to the study of, in that particular application catalytic, chemical reactions [2]. We will discuss the results from this and related studies we have performed. 

Secondly, the ultimate properties of polymers are of continuous interest. Ultimate properties are the properties of ideal, defect free, structures. So far, for polymer crystals the ultimate elastic modulus and the ultimate tensile strength have not been calculated at an appropriate level. In particular, convergence as a function of basis set size has not been demonstrated, and most calculations have been applied to a single isolated chain rather than a three-dimensional polymer crystal. Using the Car-Parrinello method, we have been able to achieve basis set convergence for the elastic modulus of a three-dimensional infinite polyethylene crystal. These results will also be fliscussed. 

The structure of the metallocene cation energy minimised with the Car-Parrinello method agrees well with the experimentally obtained crystal structures of related complexes. Typical features of the structure as obtained from X-ray diffraction on crystals of very similar neutral complexes (e.g., the dichlorides), such as small differences in distances between C atoms within a cyclopentadienyl (Cp) ring, as well as differences in distances between the C atoms of the Cp ring and the Zr atom, were revealed from the simulations. 

Regarding mechanical properties of polymers, the efficiency of the Car-Parrinello approach has enabled us to evaluate the ultimate Young s modulus of orthorhombic polyethylene, and demonstrate basis set convergence for that property. 

A key feature of the Car-Parrinello proposal was the use of molecular dynamics a simulated annealing to search for the values of the basis set coefficients that minimise I electronic energy. In this sense, their approach provides an alternative to the traditioi matrix diagonalisation methods. In the Car-Parrinello scheme, equations of motion ... 

An alternative to the Car-Parrinello method is the following scheme, which separates the electronic and nuclear motions ... 

Although constrained dynamics is usually discussed in the context of the geometrically constrained system described above, the same techniques can have many other applications. For instance, constant-pressure and constant-temperature dynamics can be imposed by using constraint methods [33,34]. Car and Parrinello [35] describe the use of the extended Lagrangian to maintain constraints in the context of their ab initio MD method. (For more details on the Car-Parrinello method, refer to the excellent review by Gain and Pasquarrello [36].)... 

One prominent example of rods with a soft interaction is Gay-Berne particles. Recently, elastic properties were calculated [89,90]. Using the classical Car-Parrinello scheme, the interactions between charged rods have been considered [91]. Concerning phase transitions, the sohd-fluid equihbria for hard dumbbells that interact additionally with a quadrupolar force was considered [92], as was the nematic-isotropic transition in a fluid of dipolar hard spherocylinders [93]. The influence of an additional attraction on the phase behavior of hard spherocylinders was considered by Bolhuis et al. [94]. The gelation transition typical for clays was found in a system of infinitely thin disks carrying point quadrupoles [95,96]. In confined hquid-crystalline films tilted molecular layers form near each wall [97]. Chakrabarti has found simulation evidence of critical behavior of the isotropic-nematic phase transition in a porous medium [98]. 

A successful tool to describe and interpret experimental findings of liquids is to perform ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for the particular systems. We performed such simulations for 5 different compositions of NaSn - ranging from 20% to 80% of sodium - applying the Car-Parrinello technique [5]. 

In a previous paper the Car-Parrinello (CP) technique was applied to the equimolar NaSn alloy [6]. In a further publication [7] we extended these investigations to a wide range of compositions ranging from 20% up to 80% of sodium and discussed the static structure factors and the behaviour of the Zintl anions (Sn ) in the molten alloys. 

The Car-Parrinello simulations were performed using the MOTECC-90 computer code [13]. All considered systems consist of 64 atoms in a cubic unit cell with a length of 23.4 a.u. and periodic boundary conditions. The plane-wave cut-off was chosen to be 6 Ryd. The atomic cores were described by the pseudopotentials of Bachelet et al. [14]. 

For comparison, we applied also a simplified LCAO-DFT method to get the conductivity by means of the Kubo-Greenwood formula. This method is a hybrid between ab initio and empirical methods and is described in detail in Ref. [12]. It allows a faster computation of the electronic properties and the consideration of larger supercells than the Car-Parrinello method. Within this scheme it is also possible to split the total DOS into fractions referring to the sodium and tin atoms, respectively, i.e. to get the partial densities-of-states. 

Thar J, Reckien W, Kirchner B (2007) Car-Parrinello Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Biological Systems. 268 133-171... 

Markwick PRL, Doltsinis NL, Schlitter J (2007) Probing irradiation induced DNA damage mechanisms using excited state Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics. J Chem Phys 126 045104... 

---