Test of the consistency of various linearized semiclassical initial value time correlation functions in application to inelastic neutron scattering from liquid para-hydrogen

Matsubara dynamics approximation for generalized multi-time correlation functions

We introduce a semi-classical approximation for calculating generalized multi-time correlation functions based on Matsubara dynamics, a classical dynamics approach that conserves the quantum Boltzmann distribution. This method is exact for the zero time and harmonic limits and reduces to classical dynamics when only one Matsubara mode is considered (i.e., the centroid). Generalized multi-time correlation functions can be expressed as canonical phase-space integrals, involving classically evolved observables coupled through Poisson brackets in a smooth Matsubara space. Numerical tests on a simple potential show that the Matsubara approximation exhibits better agreement with exact results than classical dynamics, providing a bridge between the purely quantum and classical descriptions of multi-time correlation functions. Despite the phase problem that prevents practical applications of Matsubara dynamics, the reported work provides a benchmark theory for the future development of quantum-Boltzmann-preserving semi-classical approximations for studies of chemical dynamics in condensed phase systems.

A Semiclassical Framework for Mixed Quantum Classical Dynamics

Semiclassical (SC) approximations for quantum dynamic simulations in complex chemical systems range from rigorously accurate methods that are computationally expensive to methods that exhibit near-classical scaling with system size but are limited in their ability to describe quantum effects. In practical studies of high-dimensional reactions, neither extreme is the best choice: frequently a high-level quantum mechanical description is only required for a handful of modes, while the majority of environment modes that do not play a key role in the reactive event of interest are well served with a lower level of theory. In this feature, we introduce modified Filinov filtration as a powerful tool to construct mixed quantum-classical SC theories where different subsystems can be quantized to different extents without introducing ad hoc intersubsystem interaction terms. We demonstrate that these Filinov-based SC methods can systematically tune between quantum and classical limit SC behavior, offering a practical way forward to accurate and computationally efficient simulations of high-dimensional quantum processes.

Isotopic Effects on Intermolecular and Intramolecular Structure and Dynamics in Hydrogen, Deuterium, and Tritium Liquids: Normal Liquid and Weakly and Strongly Cooled Liquids

Differences in properties such as phase-transition temperature and transport coefficients among liquids of different isotopic compositions, hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium, should originate from their differently pronounced nuclear quantum effects (NQEs) rather than from any subtle difference in the electronic interaction potentials. Accurate and efficient determination of structural and dynamical isotopic effects in the quantum liquids still remains as one of the challenging problems in condensed-phase physics. With a recently developed nonempirical real-time molecular dynamics method which describes nonspherical molecules with the NQEs, we computationally realized and investigated dynamical and quantum isotopic effects of not only traditionally studied isotopes, hydrogen, and deuterium but also a lesser known radioisotope, tritium, in broad thermodynamic conditions from normal liquid to weakly and strongly cooled liquids, which have been hindered by rapid crystallization in spite of numerous experimental attempts at supercooling. Reproducing the previously reported experimental isotope dependence on the bond length and vibrational frequencies of hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium liquids, we further demonstrate that distinctive isotope effects appear in their intermolecular and intramolecular structure and dynamics not only at lower temperature but also at higher temperature, which none has so far been able to obtain quantitative results for realistic systems. Rationalization of their physical origins and the obtained physical insights will help future experimental searching and monitoring intermolecular and intramolecular dynamics and structures of these isotopes not only in normal liquid but also in supercooled liquid.

An open-chain imaginary-time path-integral sampling approach to the calculation of approximate symmetrized quantum time correlation functions

We introduce a scheme for approximating quantum time correlation functions numerically within the Feynman path integral formulation. Starting with the symmetrized version of the correlation function expressed as a discretized path integral, we introduce a change of integration variables often used in the derivation of trajectory-based semiclassical methods. In particular, we transform to sum and difference variables between forward and backward complex-time propagation paths. Once the transformation is performed, the potential energy is expanded in powers of the difference variables, which allows us to perform the integrals over these variables analytically. The manner in which this procedure is carried out results in an open-chain path integral (in the remaining sum variables) with a modified potential that is evaluated using imaginary-time path-integral sampling rather than requiring the generation of a large ensemble of trajectories. Consequently, any number of path integral sampling schemes can be employed to compute the remaining path integral, including Monte Carlo, path-integral molecular dynamics, or enhanced path-integral molecular dynamics. We believe that this approach constitutes a different perspective in semiclassical-type approximations to quantum time correlation functions. Importantly, we argue that our approximation can be systematically improved within a cumulant expansion formalism. We test this approximation on a set of one-dimensional problems that are commonly used to benchmark approximate quantum dynamical schemes. We show that the method is at least as accurate as the popular ring-polymer molecular dynamics technique and linearized semiclassical initial value representation for correlation functions of linear operators in most of these examples and improves the accuracy of correlation functions of nonlinear operators.

A molecular dynamics study of nuclear quantum effect on diffusivity of hydrogen molecule

In this paper, the nuclear quantum effect of the hydrogen molecule on its diffusivity was analyzed using the molecular dynamics (MD) method. The centroid MD (CMD) method was applied to reproduce the time evolution of the molecules. The diffusion coefficient of hydrogen was calculated using the Green-Kubo method over a wide temperature region, and the temperature dependence of the quantum effect of the hydrogen molecule on its diffusivity was addressed. The calculated results were compared with classical MD results based on the principle of corresponding state (PCS). It was confirmed that the difference in the diffusion coefficient calculated in the CMD and classical MD methods was small, and the PCS appears to be satisfied on the temperature dependence of the diffusion coefficient, even though the quantum effect of the hydrogen molecules was taken into account. It was clarified that this result did not suggest that the quantum effect on the diffusivity of the hydrogen molecule was small but that the two changes in the intermolecular interaction of hydrogen due to the quantum effect offset each other. Moreover, it was found that this tendency was related to the temperature dependence of the ratio of the kinetic energy of the quantum fluctuational motion to the classical kinetic energy.

Semiclassical "Divide-and-Conquer" Method for Spectroscopic Calculations of High Dimensional Molecular Systems

A new semiclassical "divide-and-conquer" method is presented with the aim of demonstrating that quantum dynamics simulations of high dimensional molecular systems are doable. The method is first tested by calculating the quantum vibrational power spectra of water, methane, and benzene-three molecules of increasing dimensionality for which benchmark quantum results are available-and then applied to C_{60}, a system characterized by 174 vibrational degrees of freedom. Results show that the approach can accurately account for quantum anharmonicities, purely quantum features like overtones, and the removal of degeneracy when the molecular symmetry is broken.

On-the-Fly ab Initio Semiclassical Calculation of Glycine Vibrational Spectrum

We present an on-the-fly ab initio semiclassical study of vibrational energy levels of glycine, calculated by Fourier transform of the wavepacket correlation function. It is based on a multiple coherent states approach integrated with monodromy matrix regularization for chaotic dynamics. All four lowest-energy glycine conformers are investigated by means of single-trajectory semiclassical spectra obtained upon classical evolution of on-the-fly trajectories with harmonic zero-point energy. For the most stable conformer I, direct dynamics trajectories are also run for each vibrational mode with energy equal to the first harmonic excitation. An analysis of trajectories evolved up to 50 000 atomic time units demonstrates that, in this time span, conformers II and III can be considered as isolated species, while conformers I and IV show a pretty facile interconversion. Therefore, previous perturbative studies based on the assumption of isolated conformers are often reliable but might be not completely appropriate in the case of conformer IV and conformer I for which interconversion occurs promptly.

The importance of the pre-exponential factor in semiclassical molecular dynamics

This paper deals with the critical issue of approximating the pre-exponential factor in semiclassical molecular dynamics. The pre-exponential factor is important because it accounts for the quantum contribution to the semiclassical propagator of the classical Feynman path fluctuations. Pre-exponential factor approximations are necessary when chaotic or complex systems are simulated. We introduced pre-exponential factor approximations based either on analytical considerations or numerical regularization. The approximations are tested for power spectrum calculations of more and more chaotic model systems and on several molecules, for which exact quantum mechanical values are available. The results show that the pre-exponential factor approximations introduced are accurate enough to be safely employed for semiclassical simulations of complex systems.

Path integral Liouville dynamics for thermal equilibrium systems

We show a new imaginary time path integral based method--path integral Liouville dynamics (PILD), which can be derived from the equilibrium Liouville dynamics [J. Liu and W. H. Miller, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 104101 (2011)] in the Wigner phase space. Numerical tests of PILD with the simple (white noise) Langevin thermostat have been made for two strongly anharmonic model problems. Since implementation of PILD does not request any specific form of the potential energy surface, the results suggest that PILD offers a potentially useful approach for general condensed phase molecular systems to have the two important properties: conserves the quantum canonical distribution and recovers exact thermal correlation functions (of even nonlinear operators, i.e., nonlinear functions of position or momentum operators) in the classical, high temperature, and harmonic limits.

Insights in quantum dynamical effects in the infrared spectroscopy of liquid water from a semiclassical study with an ab initio-based flexible and polarizable force field

The dynamical properties of liquid water play an important role in many processes in nature. In this paper, we focus on the infrared (IR) absorption spectrum of liquid water based on the linearized semiclassical initial value representation (LSC-IVR) with the local Gaussian approximation (LGA) [J. Liu and W. H. Miller, J. Chem. Phys. 131, 074113 (2009)] and an ab initio based, flexible, polarizable Thole-type model (TTM3-F) [G. S. Fanourgakis and S. S. Xantheas, J. Chem. Phys. 128, 074506 (2008)]. Although the LSC-IVR (LGA) gives the exact result for the isolated three-dimensional shifted harmonic stretching model, it yields a blueshifted peak position for the more realistic anharmonic stretching potential. By using the short-time information of the LSC-IVR correlation function; however, it is shown how one can obtain more accurate results for the position of the stretching peak. Due to the physical decay in the condensed phase system, the LSC-IVR (LGA) is a good and practical approximate quantum approach for the IR spectrum of liquid water. The present results offer valuable insight into future attempts to improve the accuracy of the TTM3-F potential or other ab initio-based models in reproducing the IR spectrum of liquid water.

The properties of water: insights from quantum simulations

The properties of water play a central role in many phenomena of relevance to different areas of science, including physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and climate research. Although well studied for decades, the behavior of water under different conditions and in different environments still remains mysterious and often surprising. In this article, various efforts aimed at providing a comprehensive representation of the water properties at a molecular level through computer modeling and simulation will be described. In particular, the unique role played by the hydrogen-bond network will be examined, first in liquid water, then in the solvation of model biological compounds, and finally in ice, especially highlighting the important effects related to the quantization of the nuclear motion.