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Molecular dynamics methods for preparation of glassesA full review of molecular dynamics methods is beyond the scope of this paper; the reader is invited to turn to relevant books 12,13 . Broadly, there are two types of molecular dynamics used to prepare realistic glass models: classical and first-principles. In classical MD, the interatomic forces are represented by an empirical expression with a small number of parameters which are chosen to reproduce existing data on the material. This method has the advantage of being relatively easy to implement and computationally inexpensive, allowing for large models (typically ∼ 10 3 − 10 4 atoms) to be simulated over long timescales (typically ns). The disadvantage is that the accuracy of the simulation is limited by the accuracy of the approximations of the interatomic potential model. First-principles MD, by contrast, uses a quantum-mechanical expression for th...