Molecular dynamics potential energy surfaces interpolation

The full dynamical treatment of electrons and nuclei together in a laboratory system of coordinates is computationally intensive and difficult. However, the availability of multiprocessor computers and detailed attention to the development of efficient software, such as ENDyne, which can be maintained and debugged continually when new features are added, make END a viable alternative among methods for the study of molecular processes. Eurthemiore, when the application of END is compared to the total effort of accurate determination of relevant potential energy surfaces and nonadiabatic coupling terms, faithful analytical fitting and interpolation of the common pointwise representation of surfaces and coupling terms, and the solution of the coupled dynamical equations in a suitable internal coordinates, the computational effort of END is competitive. 

Before a detailed presentation of the ab initio dynamics simulations, first the fundamental difference between atomic and molecular adsorption on the one hand and dissociative adsorption on the other hand has to be addressed. Then I will briefly discuss the question whether quantum or classical methods are appropriate for the simulation of the adsorption dynamics. This section will be followed by a short introduction into the determination of potential energy surfaces from first principles and their continuous representation by some analytical or numerical interpolation schemes. Then the dissociative adsorption and associative desorption of hydrogen at metal and semiconductor surfaces and the molecular trapping of oxygen on platinum will be discussed in some detail. 

---