Molecular dynamics coordination

At any geometry g.], the gradient vector having components d EjJd Q. provides the forces (F. = -d Ej l d 2.) along each of the coordinates Q-. These forces are used in molecular dynamics simulations which solve the Newton F = ma equations and in molecular mechanics studies which are aimed at locating those geometries where the F vector vanishes (i.e. tire stable isomers and transition states discussed above). 

Ciccotti G, Ferrario M and Ryckaert J-P 1982 Molecular dynamics of rigid systems in cartesian coordinates. A general formulation Mol. Phys. 47 1253-64... 

Since 5 is a function of all the intermediate coordinates, a large scale optimization problem is to be expected. For illustration purposes consider a molecular system of 100 degrees of freedom. To account for 1000 time points we need to optimize 5 as a function of 100,000 independent variables ( ). As a result, the use of a large time step is not only a computational benefit but is also a necessity for the proposed approach. The use of a small time step to obtain a trajectory with accuracy comparable to that of Molecular Dynamics is not practical for systems with more than a few degrees of freedom. Fbr small time steps, ordinary solution of classical trajectories is the method of choice. 

Why "force field . In many situations it is necessary to know about the forces between atoms. This is the case for molecular dynamics, but also for many molecular mechanics applications. According to Eq. (17), the forces F are calculated as the negative derivative of the potential energy E with respect to the coordinates r ... 

A molecular dynamics simulation nsnally starts with a molecular structure refined by geometry optimization, but wnthont atomic velocities. To completely describe the dynamics of a classical system con lain in g X atom s, yon m nsl define 6N variables. These correspond to ilX geometric coordinates (x, y, and /) and iSX variables for the velocities of each atom in the x, y, and /. directions. 

The in ternal arch itecture of HyperChem back ends is different from that expected to be used by third-party packages. To a third-party agent wishing to interface with HyperChem, HyperChem always acts as a server. Thus a third-party molecular dynamics package w oiild ask HyperChem to send th e coordinates of a mide-cu le rath cr th an HvperCIhem determ in in g on its own that it should send coordinates at the appropriate time. 

Aclassical molecular dynamics trajectory is simply a set of atoms with in itial condition s con sisiin g of the liX Cartesian coordinates ofX atoms and the iiX (. artesian velocities... 

HyperChem run s the molecular dynain ics trajectory, averaging and analyzing a trajectory and creating the Cartesian coordinates and velocities, fhe period for reporting these coordinates and velocities is th e data collection period. At-2. It is a m iiltiplc of the basic time step. At = ii At], and is also referred to as a data step. The value 1I2 is set in the Molecular Dynamics options dialog box. 

Coordin ates of atom s can he set by n orm al translation orrotation of HyperCh cm molecules, fo set initial velocities, however, it is necessary to edit th e H l. file explicitly. The tin it o f velocity in the HIN file is. An gstrom s/picosecon d.. Areact.hin file and a script react.scr are in eluded with HyperChem to illustrate one simple reacting trajectory. In order to have these initial velocities used in a trajectory the Restart check box of the Molecular Dynamics Option s dialog box must he checked. If it is n ot, the in itial velocities in the HIN file will be ignored and a re-equilibration to the tern peratiire f of th e Molecular Dyn am ics Option s dialog box will occur. This destroys any imposed initial conditions on the molecular dynamics trajectory. 

The input to a minimisation program consists of a set of initial coordinates for the system. The initial coordinates may come from a variety of sources. They may be obtained from an experimental technique, such as X-ray crystallography or NMR. In other cases a theoretical method is employed, such as a conformational search algorithm. A combination of experimenfal and theoretical approaches may also be used. For example, to study the behaviour of a protein in water one may take an X-ray structure of the protein and immerse it in a solvent bath, where the coordinates of the solvent molecules have been obtained from a Monte Carlo or molecular dynamics simulation. 

Monte Carlo simulations require less computer time to execute each iteration than a molecular dynamics simulation on the same system. However, Monte Carlo simulations are more limited in that they cannot yield time-dependent information, such as diffusion coefficients or viscosity. As with molecular dynamics, constant NVT simulations are most common, but constant NPT simulations are possible using a coordinate scaling step. Calculations that are not constant N can be constructed by including probabilities for particle creation and annihilation. These calculations present technical difficulties due to having very low probabilities for creation and annihilation, thus requiring very large collections of molecules and long simulation times. 

Both molecular dynamics studies and femtosecond laser spectroscopy results show that molecules with a sufficient amount of energy to react often vibrate until the nuclei follow a path that leads to the reaction coordinate. Dynamical calculations, called trajectory calculations, are an application of the molecular dynamics method that can be performed at semiempirical or ah initio levels of theory. See Chapter 19 for further details. 

Run a molecular dynamics simulation, then rotate the molecular system in the Molecular Coordinate System. This changes the coordinates of all atoms, but not the velocity vectors present at the end of the last molecular dynamics simulation. 

Snapshots at regular time intervals that store atomic coordinates and velocities. You can play back these snapshots to inspect the simulated structures or to average values. You specify a Snapshot period in the Molecular Dynamics Snapshots dialog box. 

---