Arno A. Veldhorst

Scaling of the dynamics of flexible Lennard-Jones chains

The isomorph theory provides an explanation for the so-called power law density scaling which has been observed in many molecular and polymeric glass formers, both experimentally and in simulations. Power law density scaling (relaxation times and transport coefficients being functions of ρ(γ(S)), where ρ is density, T is temperature, and γ(S) is a material specific scaling exponent) is an approximation to a more general scaling predicted by the isomorph theory. Furthermore, the isomorph theory provides an explanation for Rosenfeld scaling (relaxation times and transport coefficients being functions of excess entropy) which has been observed in simulations of both molecular and polymeric systems. Doing molecular dynamics simulations of flexible Lennard-Jones chains (LJC) with rigid bonds, we here provide the first detailed test of the isomorph theory applied to flexible chain molecules. We confirm the existence of isomorphs, which are curves in the phase diagram along which the dynamics is invariant in the appropriate reduced units. This holds not only for the relaxation times but also for the full time dependence of the dynamics, including chain specific dynamics such as the end-to-end vector autocorrelation function and the relaxation of the Rouse modes. As predicted by the isomorph theory, jumps between different state points on the same isomorph happen instantaneously without any slow relaxation. Since the LJC is a simple coarse-grained model for alkanes and polymers, our results provide a possible explanation for why power-law density scaling is observed experimentally in alkanes and many polymeric systems. The theory provides an independent method of determining the scaling exponent, which is usually treated as an empirical scaling parameter.

Statistical mechanics of Roskilde liquids: configurational adiabats, specific heat contours, and density dependence of the scaling exponent.

We derive exact results for the rate of change of thermodynamic quantities, in particular, the configurational specific heat at constant volume, CV, along configurational adiabats (curves of constant excess entropy Sex). Such curves are designated isomorphs for so-called Roskilde liquids, in view of the invariance of various structural and dynamical quantities along them. The slope of the isomorphs in a double logarithmic representation of the density-temperature phase diagram, γ, can be interpreted as one third of an effective inverse power-law potential exponent. We show that in liquids where γ increases (decreases) with density, the contours of CV have smaller (larger) slope than configurational adiabats. We clarify also the connection between γ and the pair potential. A fluctuation formula for the slope of the CV-contours is derived. The theoretical results are supported with data from computer simulations of two systems, the Lennard-Jones fluid, and the Girifalco fluid. The sign of dγ∕dρ is thus a third key parameter in characterizing Roskilde liquids, after γ and the virial-potential energy correlation coefficient R. To go beyond isomorph theory we compare invariance of a dynamical quantity, the self-diffusion coefficient, along adiabats and CV-contours, finding it more invariant along adiabats.

Do the repulsive and attractive pair forces play separate roles for the physics of liquids

According to standard liquid-state theory repulsive and attractive pair forces play distinct roles for the physics of liquids. This paradigm is put into perspective here by demonstrating a continuous series of pair potentials that have virtually the same structure and dynamics, although only some of them have attractive forces of significance. Our findings reflect the fact that the motion of a given particle is determined by the total force on it, whereas the quantity usually discussed in liquid-state theory is the individual pair force.

RUMD: A general purpose molecular dynamics package optimized to utilize GPU hardware down to a few thousand particles

RUMD is a general purpose, high-performance molecular dynamics (MD) simulation package running on graphical processing units (GPUs). RUMD addresses the challenge of utilizing the many-core nature of modern GPU hardware when simulating small to medium system sizes (roughly from a few thousand up to hundred thousand particles). It has a performance that is comparable to other GPU-MD codes at large system sizes and substantially better at smaller sizes.RUMD is open-source and consists of a library written in C++ and the CUDA extension to C, an easy-to-use Python interface, and a set of tools for set-up and post-simulation data analysis. The paper describes RUMDs main features, optimizations and performance benchmarks.

Pair Potential That Reproduces the Shape of Isochrones in Molecular Liquids.

Many liquids have curves (isomorphs) in their phase diagrams along which structure, dynamics, and some thermodynamic quantities are invariant in reduced units. A substantial part of their phase diagrams is thus effectively one dimensional. The shapes of these isomorphs are described by a material-dependent function of density, h(ρ), which for real liquids is well approximated by a power law, ρ(γ). However, in simulations, a power law is not adequate when density changes are large; typical models, such as Lennard-Jones liquids, show that γ(ρ) ≡ d ln h(ρ)/d ln ρ is a decreasing function of density. This article presents results from computer simulations using a new pair potential that diverges at a nonzero distance and can be tuned to give a more realistic shape of γ(ρ). Our results indicate that the finite size of molecules is an important factor to take into account when modeling liquids over a large density range.