Molecular dynamics with quantum transition

It seems that surface hopping (also called Molecular Dynamics with Quantum Transitions, MDQT) is a rather heavy tool to simulate proton dynamics. A recent and promising development is path integral centroid dynamics [123] that provides approximate dynamics of the centroid of the wavefunctions. Several improvements and applications have been published [123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128). 

Hammes-Schiffer, S., Tully, J.C. Proton transfer in solution Molecular dynamics with quantum transitions. J. Chem. Phys. 101 (1994) 4657 667. 

Table II Comparison of the ratio k/k E °f quantum rate k over k, which is the TST result corrected for zero-point energy in the reactant well. Also shown are the Landail-Zener and centroid calculations67 and the molecular dynamics with quantum transition result.68...

Since the dielectric continuum representation of the solvent has significant limitations, the molecular dynamics simulation of PCET with explicit solvent molecules is also an important direction. One approach is to utilize a multistate VB model with explicit solvent interactions [34-36] and to incorporate transitions among the adiabatic mixed electronic/proton vibrational states with the Molecular Dynamics with Quantum Transitions (MDQT) surface hopping method [39, 40]. The MDQT method has already been applied to a one-dimensional model PCET system [39]. The advantage of this approach for PCET reactions is that it is valid in the adiabatic and non-adiatic limits as well as in the intermediate regime. Furthermore, this approach is applicable to PCET in proteins as well as in solution. 

Hwang et al.131 were the first to calculate the contribution of tunneling and other nuclear quantum effects to enzyme catalysis. Since then, and in particular in the past few years, there has been a significant increase in simulations of QM-nuclear effects in enzyme reactions. The approaches used range from the quantized classical path (QCP) (e.g., Refs. 4,57,136), the centroid path integral approach,137,138 and vibrational TS theory,139 to the molecular dynamics with quantum transition (MDQT) surface hopping method.140 Most studies did not yet examine the reference water reaction, and thus could only evaluate the QM contribution to the enzyme rate constant, rather than the corresponding catalytic effect. However, studies that explored the actual catalytic contributions (e.g., Refs. 4,57,136) concluded that the QM contributions are similar for the reaction in the enzyme and in solution, and thus, do not contribute to catalysis. 

S. Y. Kim and S. Hammes-Schiffer (2003) Molecular dynamics with quantum transitions for proton transfer Quantum treatment of hydrogen and donorac-ceptor motions. J. Chem. Phys. 119, pp. 4389-4398... 

MDQT Molecular dynamics with quantum transition MM Molecular mechanics... 

The free-energy profile is calculated by the FEP/US method (see section 16.3.3.3). However, at each step of the molecular dynamics simulation, the vibrational energy and the wave function of the transferred proton are determined from a three-dimensional Schrodinger equation and are included in the FEP/US procedure. In addition, dynamical effects due to transitions among proton vibrational states are calculated with a molecular dynamics with quantum transition (MDQT) procedure in which the proton wave function evolution is determined by a time-dependent Schrodinger equation. This procedure is combined with a reactive flux approach to calculate the transmission... 

Solution - Molecular-Dynamics with Quantum Transitions. 

Beyond the clusters, to microscopically model a reaction in solution, we need to include a very big number of solvent molecules in the system to represent the bulk. The problem stems from the fact that it is computationally impossible, with our current capabilities, to locate the transition state structure of the reaction on the complete quantum mechanical potential energy hypersurface, if all the degrees of freedom are explicitly included. Moreover, the effect of thermal statistical averaging should be incorporated. Then, classical mechanical computer simulation techniques (Monte Carlo or Molecular Dynamics) appear to be the most suitable procedures to attack the above problems. In short, and applied to the computer simulation of chemical reactions in solution, the Monte Carlo [18-21] technique is a numerical method in the frame of the classical Statistical Mechanics, which allows to generate a set of system configurations... 

Within the mixed quantum/classical approach, at each time step in a classical molecular dynamics simulation (that is, for each configuration of the bath coordinates), for each chromophore one needs the transition frequency and the transition dipole or polarizability, and if there are multiple chromophores, one needs the coupling frequencies between each pair. For water a number of different possible approaches have been used to obtain these quantities in this section we begin with brief discussions of each approach to determine transition frequencies. For definiteness we consider the case of a single OH stretch chromophore on an HOD molecule in liquid D2O. 

---