Integral equation theory of distributed partial wave basis: application to molecular liquids

Numerical evaluation of orientation averages and its application to molecular physics

In molecular physics, it is often necessary to average over the orientation of molecules when calculating observables, in particular when modeling experiments in the liquid or gas phase. Evaluated in terms of Euler angles, this is closely related to integration over two- or three-dimensional unit spheres, a common problem discussed in numerical analysis. The computational cost of the integration depends significantly on the quadrature method, making the selection of an appropriate method crucial for the feasibility of simulations. After reviewing several classes of spherical quadrature methods in terms of their efficiency and error distribution, we derive guidelines for choosing the best quadrature method for orientation averages and illustrate these with three examples from chiral molecule physics. While Gauss quadratures allow for achieving numerically exact integration for a wide range of applications, other methods offer advantages in specific circumstances. Our guidelines can also be applied to higher-dimensional spherical domains and other geometries. We also present a Python package providing a flexible interface to a variety of quadrature methods.

An interaction site model integral equation study of molecular fluids explicitly considering the molecular orientation

We implemented an interaction site model integral equation for rigid molecules based on a density-functional theory where the molecular orientation is explicitly considered. In this implementation of the integral equation, multiple integral of the degree of freedom of the molecular orientation is performed using efficient quadrature methods, so that the site-site pair correlation functions are evaluated exactly in the limit of low density. We apply this method to Cl(2), HCl, and H(2)O molecular fluids that have been investigated by several integral equation studies using various models. The site-site pair correlation functions obtained from the integral equation are in good agreement with the one from a simulation of these molecules. Rotational invariant coefficients, which characterize the microscopic structure of molecular fluids, are determined from the integral equation and the simulation in order to investigate the accuracy of the integral equation.

Efficient orientational averaging by the extension of Lebedev grids via regularized octahedral symmetry expansion

Gaussian spherical quadrature methods in the guise of the Lebedev sampling grids are highly efficient for some orientational ("powder") averaging problems in solid state NMR. However, their applicability is currently restricted, as the sets of orientations are derived analytically and because they are not well adapted to simulate the broad peakshapes encountered, for example, in the NMR on static powders or on half-integer quadrupolar spins subject to second order quadrupolar interactions under magic-angle spinning conditions. We remedy these problems by (i) introducing the recursive procedure regularized octahedral symmetry expansion (ROSE), to which any existing Lebedev set may be subjected. Each recursive step gives a 9-fold enlarged set of orientations. (ii) We demonstrate that ROSE-expanded grids, in conjunction with spectral interpolation, is well suited for calculating broad peakshapes. These advances combine into the apparently most efficient general-purpose two-angle orientational averaging technique proposed to date for solid state NMR applications.

Comparative Study on Solvation Free Energy Expressions in Reference Interaction Site Model Integral Equation Theory

The performance of the recently proposed partial wave (PW) free energy functional is compared with those of two previous expressions, Gaussian fluctuation (GF) and hypernetted chain (HNC), within the reference interaction site model framework. The applications to the calculations of ambient and supercritical water, solvation free energies of organic molecules, and partition coefficients clearly show that the PW and GF free energy expressions provide more reliable results than the HNC functional, indicating rather associative situations of geometry in ordinary liquids of medium-sized molecules.