PRL Abstract

Abstract


Extended system path integral molecular dynamics algorithms have been developed that can generate efficiently averages in the quantum mechanical canonical ensemble (Tuckerman,Berne,Klein,Martyna J. Chem. Phys. 99 2796, 1993). Here, the corresponding extended system path integral molecular dynamics algorithms appropriate to the quantum mechanical isothermal-isobaric ensemble with both isotropic and full cell fluctuations are constructed. This is accomplished by deriving appropriate dynamical equations of motions and developing reversible multiple time step algorithms to integrate these equations numerically. The new methods are tested on model, a particle in a periodic potential, and realistic, liquid and solid para-hydrogen and liquid butane, systems. In addition, the methodology is extended to treat path integral centroid dynamics scheme, (Cao and Voth, J. Chem. Phys. 99, 10070, 1993), a novel method which is capable of generating good semiclassical approximations to quantum mechanical time correlation functions.