; B. Shadrack Jabes. Ionic Liquids Treated within the Grand Canonical Adaptive Resolution Molecular Dynamics Technique

The physics of open systems for the simulation of complex molecular environments in soft matter

Molecular dynamics (MD) has become one of the most powerful tools of investigation in soft matter. Despite such success, simulations of large molecular environments are mostly run using the approximation of closed systems without the possibility of exchange of matter. Due to the molecular complexity of soft matter systems, an optimal simulation strategy would require the application of concurrent multiscale resolution approaches such that each part of a large system can be considered as an open subsystem at a high resolution embedded in a large coarser reservoir of energy and particles. This paper discusses the current capability and the future perspectives of multiscale adaptive resolution MD methods to satisfy the conceptual principles of open systems and to perform simulations of complex molecular environments in soft matter.

Adaptive resolution molecular dynamics technique: Down to the essential

We investigate the role of the thermodynamic (TD) force as an essential and sufficient technical ingredient for an efficient and accurate adaptive resolution algorithm. Such a force applied in the coupling region of an adaptive resolution molecular dynamics setup assures thermodynamic equilibrium between atomistically resolved and coarse-grained regions, allowing the proper exchange of molecules. We numerically prove that indeed for systems as relevant as liquid water and 1,3-dimethylimidazolium chloride ionic liquid, the combined action of the TD force and thermostat allows for computationally efficient and numerically accurate simulations, beyond the current capabilities of adaptive resolution setups, which employ switching functions in the coupling region.