HOW IS SYMPLECTIC INTEGRATOR APPLICABLE TO MOLECULAR DYNAMICS?

Abstract

We systematically investigate how symplectic integrator schemes are effective when applied to molecular dynamics method. The performances are estimated from a point of view of the total energy conservation by investigating molecular dynamics of one-component Lennard–Jones system in constant volume and constant temperature and pressure. It is shown that numerical simulations by the symplectic integrator scheme are better than those by classical schemes for a long-time simulation even in the case of large step size. The performances of various orders of symplectic integrator are evaluated.