The effect of the applied trajectory length on the convergence of the static dielectric constant and the self-diffusion coefficient were examined for the SPC/E water model in the NVT ensemble with different system size at 293 K. Very long simulation times of 6-8 ns were employed in order to track the convergence of these properties.Temperature dependence and isotope effects, via using D 2 O instead of H 2 O, were also investigated. A simulation for the polarizable SWM4-DP model was also carried out to compare the effect of different potential models. Radial distribution functions and the neutron weighted structure factor were also calculated; they were found to be insensitive to changing the system size in the range of 216-16000 molecules. On the other hand, the static dielectric constant and the diffusion coefficient are rather sensitive to the applied trajectory length, system size and the method of calculation.These latter properties are therefore not appropriate for assessing, and distinguishing between, potential models of water. It is clearly shown that trajectories shorter than about 6 ns are not sufficient for a sufficiently accurate determination of the dielectric constant of this water model.
An approach has been devised and tested for preserving the molecular dynamics molecular geometry taking into account energetic considerations during Reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) modeling. Instead of the commonly used fixed neighbor constraints, where molecules are held together by constraining distance ranges available for the specified atom pairs, here molecules are kept together via bond, angle, and dihedral potential energies. The scaled total potential energy contributes to the measure of the goodness-of-fit, thus, the atoms can be prevented from drifting apart. In some of the calculations (Lennard-Jones and Coulombic) nonbonding potentials were also applied. The algorithm was successfully tested for the X-ray structure factor-based structure study of liquid dimethyl trisulfide, for which material now significantly more sensible results have been obtained than during previous attempts via any earlier version of RMC modeling. It is envisaged that structural modeling of a large class of materials, primarily liquids and amorphous solids containing molecules of up to about 100 atoms, will make use of the new code in the near future.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.