ViewVC Help
View File | Revision Log | Show Annotations | View Changeset | Root Listing
root/group/trunk/electrostaticMethodsPaper/electrostaticMethods.tex
(Generate patch)

Comparing trunk/electrostaticMethodsPaper/electrostaticMethods.tex (file contents):
Revision 2575 by chrisfen, Sat Jan 28 22:42:46 2006 UTC vs.
Revision 2659 by chrisfen, Wed Mar 22 21:20:40 2006 UTC

# Line 1 | Line 1
1   %\documentclass[prb,aps,twocolumn,tabularx]{revtex4}
2 < \documentclass[12pt]{article}
2 > %\documentclass[aps,prb,preprint]{revtex4}
3 > \documentclass[11pt]{article}
4   \usepackage{endfloat}
5 < \usepackage{amsmath}
5 > \usepackage{amsmath,bm}
6 > \usepackage{amssymb}
7   \usepackage{epsf}
8   \usepackage{times}
9 < \usepackage{mathptm}
9 > \usepackage{mathptmx}
10   \usepackage{setspace}
11   \usepackage{tabularx}
12   \usepackage{graphicx}
13 + \usepackage{booktabs}
14 + \usepackage{bibentry}
15 + \usepackage{mathrsfs}
16   \usepackage[ref]{overcite}
17   \pagestyle{plain}
18   \pagenumbering{arabic}
# Line 20 | Line 25
25  
26   \begin{document}
27  
28 < \title{On the necessity of the Ewald Summation in molecular simulations.}
28 > \title{Is the Ewald Summation necessary? \\
29 > Pairwise alternatives to the accepted standard for \\
30 > long-range electrostatics}
31  
32 < \author{Christopher J. Fennell and J. Daniel Gezelter \\
32 > \author{Christopher J. Fennell and J. Daniel Gezelter\footnote{Corresponding author. \ Electronic mail:
33 > gezelter@nd.edu} \\
34   Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry\\
35   University of Notre Dame\\
36   Notre Dame, Indiana 46556}
# Line 30 | Line 38 | Notre Dame, Indiana 46556}
38   \date{\today}
39  
40   \maketitle
41 < %\doublespacing
41 > \doublespacing
42  
43 + \nobibliography{}
44   \begin{abstract}
45 + We investigate pairwise electrostatic interaction methods and show
46 + that there are viable and computationally efficient $(\mathscr{O}(N))$
47 + alternatives to the Ewald summation for typical modern molecular
48 + simulations.  These methods are extended from the damped and
49 + cutoff-neutralized Coulombic sum originally proposed by Wolf
50 + \textit{et al.}  One of these, the damped shifted force method, shows
51 + a remarkable ability to reproduce the energetic and dynamic
52 + characteristics exhibited by simulations employing lattice summation
53 + techniques.  Comparisons were performed with this and other pairwise
54 + methods against the smooth particle mesh Ewald ({\sc spme}) summation to see
55 + how well they reproduce the energetics and dynamics of a variety of
56 + simulation types.
57   \end{abstract}
58  
59 + \newpage
60 +
61   %\narrowtext
62  
63 < %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
63 > %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
64   %                              BODY OF TEXT
65 < %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
65 > %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
66  
67   \section{Introduction}
68 +
69 + In molecular simulations, proper accumulation of the electrostatic
70 + interactions is essential and is one of the most
71 + computationally-demanding tasks.  The common molecular mechanics force
72 + fields represent atomic sites with full or partial charges protected
73 + by Lennard-Jones (short range) interactions.  This means that nearly
74 + every pair interaction involves a calculation of charge-charge forces.
75 + Coupled with relatively long-ranged $r^{-1}$ decay, the monopole
76 + interactions quickly become the most expensive part of molecular
77 + simulations.  Historically, the electrostatic pair interaction would
78 + not have decayed appreciably within the typical box lengths that could
79 + be feasibly simulated.  In the larger systems that are more typical of
80 + modern simulations, large cutoffs should be used to incorporate
81 + electrostatics correctly.
82 +
83 + There have been many efforts to address the proper and practical
84 + handling of electrostatic interactions, and these have resulted in a
85 + variety of techniques.\cite{Roux99,Sagui99,Tobias01} These are
86 + typically classified as implicit methods (i.e., continuum dielectrics,
87 + static dipolar fields),\cite{Born20,Grossfield00} explicit methods
88 + (i.e., Ewald summations, interaction shifting or
89 + truncation),\cite{Ewald21,Steinbach94} or a mixture of the two (i.e.,
90 + reaction field type methods, fast multipole
91 + methods).\cite{Onsager36,Rokhlin85} The explicit or mixed methods are
92 + often preferred because they physically incorporate solvent molecules
93 + in the system of interest, but these methods are sometimes difficult
94 + to utilize because of their high computational cost.\cite{Roux99} In
95 + addition to the computational cost, there have been some questions
96 + regarding possible artifacts caused by the inherent periodicity of the
97 + explicit Ewald summation.\cite{Tobias01}
98 +
99 + In this paper, we focus on a new set of shifted methods devised by
100 + Wolf {\it et al.},\cite{Wolf99} which we further extend.  These
101 + methods along with a few other mixed methods (i.e. reaction field) are
102 + compared with the smooth particle mesh Ewald
103 + sum,\cite{Onsager36,Essmann99} which is our reference method for
104 + handling long-range electrostatic interactions. The new methods for
105 + handling electrostatics have the potential to scale linearly with
106 + increasing system size since they involve only a simple modification
107 + to the direct pairwise sum.  They also lack the added periodicity of
108 + the Ewald sum, so they can be used for systems which are non-periodic
109 + or which have one- or two-dimensional periodicity.  Below, these
110 + methods are evaluated using a variety of model systems to establish
111 + their usability in molecular simulations.
112 +
113 + \subsection{The Ewald Sum}
114 + The complete accumulation electrostatic interactions in a system with
115 + periodic boundary conditions (PBC) requires the consideration of the
116 + effect of all charges within a (cubic) simulation box as well as those
117 + in the periodic replicas,
118 + \begin{equation}
119 + V_\textrm{elec} = \frac{1}{2} {\sum_{\mathbf{n}}}^\prime \left[ \sum_{i=1}^N\sum_{j=1}^N \phi\left( \mathbf{r}_{ij} + L\mathbf{n},\bm{\Omega}_i,\bm{\Omega}_j\right) \right],
120 + \label{eq:PBCSum}
121 + \end{equation}
122 + where the sum over $\mathbf{n}$ is a sum over all periodic box
123 + replicas with integer coordinates $\mathbf{n} = (l,m,n)$, and the
124 + prime indicates $i = j$ are neglected for $\mathbf{n} =
125 + 0$.\cite{deLeeuw80} Within the sum, $N$ is the number of electrostatic
126 + particles, $\mathbf{r}_{ij}$ is $\mathbf{r}_j - \mathbf{r}_i$, $L$ is
127 + the cell length, $\bm{\Omega}_{i,j}$ are the Euler angles for $i$ and
128 + $j$, and $\phi$ is the solution to Poisson's equation
129 + ($\phi(\mathbf{r}_{ij}) = q_i q_j |\mathbf{r}_{ij}|^{-1}$ for
130 + charge-charge interactions). In the case of monopole electrostatics,
131 + eq. (\ref{eq:PBCSum}) is conditionally convergent and is divergent for
132 + non-neutral systems.
133 +
134 + The electrostatic summation problem was originally studied by Ewald
135 + for the case of an infinite crystal.\cite{Ewald21}. The approach he
136 + took was to convert this conditionally convergent sum into two
137 + absolutely convergent summations: a short-ranged real-space summation
138 + and a long-ranged reciprocal-space summation,
139 + \begin{equation}
140 + \begin{split}
141 + V_\textrm{elec} = \frac{1}{2}& \sum_{i=1}^N\sum_{j=1}^N \Biggr[ q_i q_j\Biggr( {\sum_{\mathbf{n}}}^\prime \frac{\textrm{erfc}\left( \alpha|\mathbf{r}_{ij}+\mathbf{n}|\right)}{|\mathbf{r}_{ij}+\mathbf{n}|} \\ &+ \frac{1}{\pi L^3}\sum_{\mathbf{k}\ne 0}\frac{4\pi^2}{|\mathbf{k}|^2} \exp{\left(-\frac{\pi^2|\mathbf{k}|^2}{\alpha^2}\right) \cos\left(\mathbf{k}\cdot\mathbf{r}_{ij}\right)}\Biggr)\Biggr] \\ &- \frac{\alpha}{\pi^{1/2}}\sum_{i=1}^N q_i^2 + \frac{2\pi}{(2\epsilon_\textrm{S}+1)L^3}\left|\sum_{i=1}^N q_i\mathbf{r}_i\right|^2,
142 + \end{split}
143 + \label{eq:EwaldSum}
144 + \end{equation}
145 + where $\alpha$ is the damping or convergence parameter with units of
146 + \AA$^{-1}$, $\mathbf{k}$ are the reciprocal vectors and are equal to
147 + $2\pi\mathbf{n}/L^2$, and $\epsilon_\textrm{S}$ is the dielectric
148 + constant of the surrounding medium. The final two terms of
149 + eq. (\ref{eq:EwaldSum}) are a particle-self term and a dipolar term
150 + for interacting with a surrounding dielectric.\cite{Allen87} This
151 + dipolar term was neglected in early applications in molecular
152 + simulations,\cite{Brush66,Woodcock71} until it was introduced by de
153 + Leeuw {\it et al.} to address situations where the unit cell has a
154 + dipole moment which is magnified through replication of the periodic
155 + images.\cite{deLeeuw80,Smith81} If this term is taken to be zero, the
156 + system is said to be using conducting (or ``tin-foil'') boundary
157 + conditions, $\epsilon_{\rm S} = \infty$. Figure
158 + \ref{fig:ewaldTime} shows how the Ewald sum has been applied over
159 + time.  Initially, due to the small system sizes that could be
160 + simulated feasibly, the entire simulation box was replicated to
161 + convergence.  In more modern simulations, the systems have grown large
162 + enough that a real-space cutoff could potentially give convergent
163 + behavior.  Indeed, it has been observed that with the choice of a
164 + small $\alpha$, the reciprocal-space portion of the Ewald sum can be
165 + rapidly convergent and small relative to the real-space
166 + portion.\cite{Karasawa89,Kolafa92}
167 +
168 + \begin{figure}
169 + \centering
170 + \includegraphics[width = \linewidth]{./ewaldProgression.pdf}
171 + \caption{The change in the application of the Ewald sum with
172 + increasing computational power.  Initially, only small systems could
173 + be studied, and the Ewald sum replicated the simulation box to
174 + convergence.  Now, much larger systems of charges are investigated
175 + with fixed-distance cutoffs.}
176 + \label{fig:ewaldTime}
177 + \end{figure}
178 +
179 + The original Ewald summation is an $\mathscr{O}(N^2)$ algorithm.  The
180 + convergence parameter $(\alpha)$ plays an important role in balancing
181 + the computational cost between the direct and reciprocal-space
182 + portions of the summation.  The choice of this value allows one to
183 + select whether the real-space or reciprocal space portion of the
184 + summation is an $\mathscr{O}(N^2)$ calculation (with the other being
185 + $\mathscr{O}(N)$).\cite{Sagui99} With the appropriate choice of
186 + $\alpha$ and thoughtful algorithm development, this cost can be
187 + reduced to $\mathscr{O}(N^{3/2})$.\cite{Perram88} The typical route
188 + taken to reduce the cost of the Ewald summation even further is to set
189 + $\alpha$ such that the real-space interactions decay rapidly, allowing
190 + for a short spherical cutoff. Then the reciprocal space summation is
191 + optimized.  These optimizations usually involve utilization of the
192 + fast Fourier transform (FFT),\cite{Hockney81} leading to the
193 + particle-particle particle-mesh (P3M) and particle mesh Ewald (PME)
194 + methods.\cite{Shimada93,Luty94,Luty95,Darden93,Essmann95} In these
195 + methods, the cost of the reciprocal-space portion of the Ewald
196 + summation is reduced from $\mathscr{O}(N^2)$ down to $\mathscr{O}(N
197 + \log N)$.
198 +
199 + These developments and optimizations have made the use of the Ewald
200 + summation routine in simulations with periodic boundary
201 + conditions. However, in certain systems, such as vapor-liquid
202 + interfaces and membranes, the intrinsic three-dimensional periodicity
203 + can prove problematic.  The Ewald sum has been reformulated to handle
204 + 2D systems,\cite{Parry75,Parry76,Heyes77,deLeeuw79,Rhee89}, but the
205 + new methods are computationally expensive.\cite{Spohr97,Yeh99}
206 + Inclusion of a correction term in the Ewald summation is a possible
207 + direction for handling 2D systems while still enabling the use of the
208 + modern optimizations.\cite{Yeh99}
209 +
210 + Several studies have recognized that the inherent periodicity in the
211 + Ewald sum can also have an effect on three-dimensional
212 + systems.\cite{Roberts94,Roberts95,Luty96,Hunenberger99a,Hunenberger99b,Weber00}
213 + Solvated proteins are essentially kept at high concentration due to
214 + the periodicity of the electrostatic summation method.  In these
215 + systems, the more compact folded states of a protein can be
216 + artificially stabilized by the periodic replicas introduced by the
217 + Ewald summation.\cite{Weber00} Thus, care must be taken when
218 + considering the use of the Ewald summation where the assumed
219 + periodicity would introduce spurious effects in the system dynamics.
220 +
221 + \subsection{The Wolf and Zahn Methods}
222 + In a recent paper by Wolf \textit{et al.}, a procedure was outlined
223 + for the accurate accumulation of electrostatic interactions in an
224 + efficient pairwise fashion.  This procedure lacks the inherent
225 + periodicity of the Ewald summation.\cite{Wolf99} Wolf \textit{et al.}
226 + observed that the electrostatic interaction is effectively
227 + short-ranged in condensed phase systems and that neutralization of the
228 + charge contained within the cutoff radius is crucial for potential
229 + stability. They devised a pairwise summation method that ensures
230 + charge neutrality and gives results similar to those obtained with the
231 + Ewald summation.  The resulting shifted Coulomb potential
232 + (Eq. \ref{eq:WolfPot}) includes image-charges subtracted out through
233 + placement on the cutoff sphere and a distance-dependent damping
234 + function (identical to that seen in the real-space portion of the
235 + Ewald sum) to aid convergence
236 + \begin{equation}
237 + V_{\textrm{Wolf}}(r_{ij})= \frac{q_i q_j \textrm{erfc}(\alpha r_{ij})}{r_{ij}}-\lim_{r_{ij}\rightarrow R_\textrm{c}}\left\{\frac{q_iq_j \textrm{erfc}(\alpha r_{ij})}{r_{ij}}\right\}.
238 + \label{eq:WolfPot}
239 + \end{equation}
240 + Eq. (\ref{eq:WolfPot}) is essentially the common form of a shifted
241 + potential.  However, neutralizing the charge contained within each
242 + cutoff sphere requires the placement of a self-image charge on the
243 + surface of the cutoff sphere.  This additional self-term in the total
244 + potential enabled Wolf {\it et al.}  to obtain excellent estimates of
245 + Madelung energies for many crystals.
246 +
247 + In order to use their charge-neutralized potential in molecular
248 + dynamics simulations, Wolf \textit{et al.} suggested taking the
249 + derivative of this potential prior to evaluation of the limit.  This
250 + procedure gives an expression for the forces,
251 + \begin{equation}
252 + F_{\textrm{Wolf}}(r_{ij}) = q_i q_j\left\{\left[\frac{\textrm{erfc}\left(\alpha r_{ij}\right)}{r^2_{ij}}+\frac{2\alpha}{\pi^{1/2}}\frac{\exp{\left(-\alpha^2r_{ij}^2\right)}}{r_{ij}}\right]-\left[\frac{\textrm{erfc}\left(\alpha R_{\textrm{c}}\right)}{R_{\textrm{c}}^2}+\frac{2\alpha}{\pi^{1/2}}\frac{\exp{\left(-\alpha^2R_{\textrm{c}}^2\right)}}{R_{\textrm{c}}}\right]\right\},
253 + \label{eq:WolfForces}
254 + \end{equation}
255 + that incorporates both image charges and damping of the electrostatic
256 + interaction.
257 +
258 + More recently, Zahn \textit{et al.} investigated these potential and
259 + force expressions for use in simulations involving water.\cite{Zahn02}
260 + In their work, they pointed out that the forces and derivative of
261 + the potential are not commensurate.  Attempts to use both
262 + eqs. (\ref{eq:WolfPot}) and (\ref{eq:WolfForces}) together will lead
263 + to poor energy conservation.  They correctly observed that taking the
264 + limit shown in equation (\ref{eq:WolfPot}) {\it after} calculating the
265 + derivatives gives forces for a different potential energy function
266 + than the one shown in eq. (\ref{eq:WolfPot}).
267 +
268 + Zahn \textit{et al.} introduced a modified form of this summation
269 + method as a way to use the technique in Molecular Dynamics
270 + simulations.  They proposed a new damped Coulomb potential,
271 + \begin{equation}
272 + V_{\textrm{Zahn}}(r_{ij}) = q_iq_j\left\{\frac{\mathrm{erfc}\left(\alpha r_{ij}\right)}{r_{ij}}-\left[\frac{\mathrm{erfc}\left(\alpha R_\mathrm{c}\right)}{R_\mathrm{c}^2}+\frac{2\alpha}{\pi^{1/2}}\frac{\exp\left(-\alpha^2R_\mathrm{c}^2\right)}{R_\mathrm{c}}\right]\left(r_{ij}-R_\mathrm{c}\right)\right\},
273 + \label{eq:ZahnPot}
274 + \end{equation}
275 + and showed that this potential does fairly well at capturing the
276 + structural and dynamic properties of water compared the same
277 + properties obtained using the Ewald sum.
278 +
279 + \subsection{Simple Forms for Pairwise Electrostatics}
280 +
281 + The potentials proposed by Wolf \textit{et al.} and Zahn \textit{et
282 + al.} are constructed using two different (and separable) computational
283 + tricks: \begin{enumerate}
284 + \item shifting through the use of image charges, and
285 + \item damping the electrostatic interaction.
286 + \end{enumerate}  Wolf \textit{et al.} treated the
287 + development of their summation method as a progressive application of
288 + these techniques,\cite{Wolf99} while Zahn \textit{et al.} founded
289 + their damped Coulomb modification (Eq. (\ref{eq:ZahnPot})) on the
290 + post-limit forces (Eq. (\ref{eq:WolfForces})) which were derived using
291 + both techniques.  It is possible, however, to separate these
292 + tricks and study their effects independently.
293 +
294 + Starting with the original observation that the effective range of the
295 + electrostatic interaction in condensed phases is considerably less
296 + than $r^{-1}$, either the cutoff sphere neutralization or the
297 + distance-dependent damping technique could be used as a foundation for
298 + a new pairwise summation method.  Wolf \textit{et al.} made the
299 + observation that charge neutralization within the cutoff sphere plays
300 + a significant role in energy convergence; therefore we will begin our
301 + analysis with the various shifted forms that maintain this charge
302 + neutralization.  We can evaluate the methods of Wolf
303 + \textit{et al.}  and Zahn \textit{et al.} by considering the standard
304 + shifted potential,
305 + \begin{equation}
306 + V_\textrm{SP}(r) =      \begin{cases}
307 + v(r)-v_\textrm{c} &\quad r\leqslant R_\textrm{c} \\ 0 &\quad r >
308 + R_\textrm{c}  
309 + \end{cases},
310 + \label{eq:shiftingPotForm}
311 + \end{equation}
312 + and shifted force,
313 + \begin{equation}
314 + V_\textrm{SF}(r) =      \begin{cases}
315 + v(r)-v_\textrm{c}-\left(\frac{d v(r)}{d r}\right)_{r=R_\textrm{c}}(r-R_\textrm{c})
316 + &\quad r\leqslant R_\textrm{c} \\ 0 &\quad r > R_\textrm{c}
317 +                                                \end{cases},
318 + \label{eq:shiftingForm}
319 + \end{equation}
320 + functions where $v(r)$ is the unshifted form of the potential, and
321 + $v_c$ is $v(R_\textrm{c})$.  The Shifted Force ({\sc sf}) form ensures
322 + that both the potential and the forces goes to zero at the cutoff
323 + radius, while the Shifted Potential ({\sc sp}) form only ensures the
324 + potential is smooth at the cutoff radius
325 + ($R_\textrm{c}$).\cite{Allen87}
326  
327 + The forces associated with the shifted potential are simply the forces
328 + of the unshifted potential itself (when inside the cutoff sphere),
329 + \begin{equation}
330 + F_{\textrm{SP}} = -\left( \frac{d v(r)}{dr} \right),
331 + \end{equation}
332 + and are zero outside.  Inside the cutoff sphere, the forces associated
333 + with the shifted force form can be written,
334 + \begin{equation}
335 + F_{\textrm{SF}} = -\left( \frac{d v(r)}{dr} \right) + \left(\frac{d
336 + v(r)}{dr} \right)_{r=R_\textrm{c}}.
337 + \end{equation}
338 +
339 + If the potential, $v(r)$, is taken to be the normal Coulomb potential,
340 + \begin{equation}
341 + v(r) = \frac{q_i q_j}{r},
342 + \label{eq:Coulomb}
343 + \end{equation}
344 + then the Shifted Potential ({\sc sp}) forms will give Wolf {\it et
345 + al.}'s undamped prescription:
346 + \begin{equation}
347 + V_\textrm{SP}(r) =
348 + q_iq_j\left(\frac{1}{r}-\frac{1}{R_\textrm{c}}\right) \quad
349 + r\leqslant R_\textrm{c},
350 + \label{eq:SPPot}
351 + \end{equation}
352 + with associated forces,
353 + \begin{equation}
354 + F_\textrm{SP}(r) = q_iq_j\left(\frac{1}{r^2}\right) \quad r\leqslant R_\textrm{c}.
355 + \label{eq:SPForces}
356 + \end{equation}
357 + These forces are identical to the forces of the standard Coulomb
358 + interaction, and cutting these off at $R_c$ was addressed by Wolf
359 + \textit{et al.} as undesirable.  They pointed out that the effect of
360 + the image charges is neglected in the forces when this form is
361 + used,\cite{Wolf99} thereby eliminating any benefit from the method in
362 + molecular dynamics.  Additionally, there is a discontinuity in the
363 + forces at the cutoff radius which results in energy drift during MD
364 + simulations.
365 +
366 + The shifted force ({\sc sf}) form using the normal Coulomb potential
367 + will give,
368 + \begin{equation}
369 + V_\textrm{SF}(r) = q_iq_j\left[\frac{1}{r}-\frac{1}{R_\textrm{c}}+\left(\frac{1}{R_\textrm{c}^2}\right)(r-R_\textrm{c})\right] \quad r\leqslant R_\textrm{c}.
370 + \label{eq:SFPot}
371 + \end{equation}
372 + with associated forces,
373 + \begin{equation}
374 + F_\textrm{SF}(r) =  q_iq_j\left(\frac{1}{r^2}-\frac{1}{R_\textrm{c}^2}\right) \quad r\leqslant R_\textrm{c}.
375 + \label{eq:SFForces}
376 + \end{equation}
377 + This formulation has the benefits that there are no discontinuities at
378 + the cutoff radius, while the neutralizing image charges are present in
379 + both the energy and force expressions.  It would be simple to add the
380 + self-neutralizing term back when computing the total energy of the
381 + system, thereby maintaining the agreement with the Madelung energies.
382 + A side effect of this treatment is the alteration in the shape of the
383 + potential that comes from the derivative term.  Thus, a degree of
384 + clarity about agreement with the empirical potential is lost in order
385 + to gain functionality in dynamics simulations.
386 +
387 + Wolf \textit{et al.} originally discussed the energetics of the
388 + shifted Coulomb potential (Eq. \ref{eq:SPPot}) and found that it was
389 + insufficient for accurate determination of the energy with reasonable
390 + cutoff distances.  The calculated Madelung energies fluctuated around
391 + the expected value as the cutoff radius was increased, but the
392 + oscillations converged toward the correct value.\cite{Wolf99} A
393 + damping function was incorporated to accelerate the convergence; and
394 + though alternative forms for the damping function could be
395 + used,\cite{Jones56,Heyes81} the complimentary error function was
396 + chosen to mirror the effective screening used in the Ewald summation.
397 + Incorporating this error function damping into the simple Coulomb
398 + potential,
399 + \begin{equation}
400 + v(r) = \frac{\mathrm{erfc}\left(\alpha r\right)}{r},
401 + \label{eq:dampCoulomb}
402 + \end{equation}
403 + the shifted potential (eq. (\ref{eq:SPPot})) becomes
404 + \begin{equation}
405 + V_{\textrm{DSP}}(r) = q_iq_j\left(\frac{\textrm{erfc}\left(\alpha r\right)}{r}-\frac{\textrm{erfc}\left(\alpha R_\textrm{c}\right)}{R_\textrm{c}}\right) \quad r\leqslant R_\textrm{c},
406 + \label{eq:DSPPot}
407 + \end{equation}
408 + with associated forces,
409 + \begin{equation}
410 + F_{\textrm{DSP}}(r) = q_iq_j\left(\frac{\textrm{erfc}\left(\alpha r\right)}{r^2}+\frac{2\alpha}{\pi^{1/2}}\frac{\exp{\left(-\alpha^2r^2\right)}}{r}\right) \quad r\leqslant R_\textrm{c}.
411 + \label{eq:DSPForces}
412 + \end{equation}
413 + Again, this damped shifted potential suffers from a
414 + force-discontinuity at the cutoff radius, and the image charges play
415 + no role in the forces.  To remedy these concerns, one may derive a
416 + {\sc sf} variant by including the derivative term in
417 + eq. (\ref{eq:shiftingForm}),
418 + \begin{equation}
419 + \begin{split}
420 + V_\mathrm{DSF}(r) = q_iq_j\Biggr{[}&\frac{\mathrm{erfc}\left(\alpha r\right)}{r}-\frac{\mathrm{erfc}\left(\alpha R_\mathrm{c}\right)}{R_\mathrm{c}} \\ &\left.+\left(\frac{\mathrm{erfc}\left(\alpha R_\mathrm{c}\right)}{R_\mathrm{c}^2}+\frac{2\alpha}{\pi^{1/2}}\frac{\exp\left(-\alpha^2R_\mathrm{c}^2\right)}{R_\mathrm{c}}\right)\left(r-R_\mathrm{c}\right)\ \right] \quad r\leqslant R_\textrm{c}.
421 + \label{eq:DSFPot}
422 + \end{split}
423 + \end{equation}
424 + The derivative of the above potential will lead to the following forces,
425 + \begin{equation}
426 + \begin{split}
427 + F_\mathrm{DSF}(r) = q_iq_j\Biggr{[}&\left(\frac{\textrm{erfc}\left(\alpha r\right)}{r^2}+\frac{2\alpha}{\pi^{1/2}}\frac{\exp{\left(-\alpha^2r^2\right)}}{r}\right) \\ &\left.-\left(\frac{\textrm{erfc}\left(\alpha R_{\textrm{c}}\right)}{R_{\textrm{c}}^2}+\frac{2\alpha}{\pi^{1/2}}\frac{\exp{\left(-\alpha^2R_{\textrm{c}}^2\right)}}{R_{\textrm{c}}}\right)\right] \quad r\leqslant R_\textrm{c}.
428 + \label{eq:DSFForces}
429 + \end{split}
430 + \end{equation}
431 + If the damping parameter $(\alpha)$ is set to zero, the undamped case,
432 + eqs. (\ref{eq:SPPot} through \ref{eq:SFForces}) are correctly
433 + recovered from eqs. (\ref{eq:DSPPot} through \ref{eq:DSFForces}).
434 +
435 + This new {\sc sf} potential is similar to equation \ref{eq:ZahnPot}
436 + derived by Zahn \textit{et al.}; however, there are two important
437 + differences.\cite{Zahn02} First, the $v_\textrm{c}$ term from
438 + eq. (\ref{eq:shiftingForm}) is equal to eq. (\ref{eq:dampCoulomb})
439 + with $r$ replaced by $R_\textrm{c}$.  This term is {\it not} present
440 + in the Zahn potential, resulting in a potential discontinuity as
441 + particles cross $R_\textrm{c}$.  Second, the sign of the derivative
442 + portion is different.  The missing $v_\textrm{c}$ term would not
443 + affect molecular dynamics simulations (although the computed energy
444 + would be expected to have sudden jumps as particle distances crossed
445 + $R_c$).  The sign problem is a potential source of errors, however.
446 + In fact, it introduces a discontinuity in the forces at the cutoff,
447 + because the force function is shifted in the wrong direction and
448 + doesn't cross zero at $R_\textrm{c}$.
449 +
450 + Eqs. (\ref{eq:DSFPot}) and (\ref{eq:DSFForces}) result in an
451 + electrostatic summation method in which the potential and forces are
452 + continuous at the cutoff radius and which incorporates the damping
453 + function proposed by Wolf \textit{et al.}\cite{Wolf99} In the rest of
454 + this paper, we will evaluate exactly how good these methods ({\sc sp},
455 + {\sc sf}, damping) are at reproducing the correct electrostatic
456 + summation performed by the Ewald sum.
457 +
458 + \subsection{Other alternatives}
459 + In addition to the methods described above, we considered some other
460 + techniques that are commonly used in molecular simulations.  The
461 + simplest of these is group-based cutoffs.  Though of little use for
462 + charged molecules, collecting atoms into neutral groups takes
463 + advantage of the observation that the electrostatic interactions decay
464 + faster than those for monopolar pairs.\cite{Steinbach94} When
465 + considering these molecules as neutral groups, the relative
466 + orientations of the molecules control the strength of the interactions
467 + at the cutoff radius.  Consequently, as these molecular particles move
468 + through $R_\textrm{c}$, the energy will drift upward due to the
469 + anisotropy of the net molecular dipole interactions.\cite{Rahman71} To
470 + maintain good energy conservation, both the potential and derivative
471 + need to be smoothly switched to zero at $R_\textrm{c}$.\cite{Adams79}
472 + This is accomplished using a standard switching function.  If a smooth
473 + second derivative is desired, a fifth (or higher) order polynomial can
474 + be used.\cite{Andrea83}
475 +
476 + Group-based cutoffs neglect the surroundings beyond $R_\textrm{c}$,
477 + and to incorporate the effects of the surroundings, a method like
478 + Reaction Field ({\sc rf}) can be used.  The original theory for {\sc
479 + rf} was originally developed by Onsager,\cite{Onsager36} and it was
480 + applied in simulations for the study of water by Barker and
481 + Watts.\cite{Barker73} In modern simulation codes, {\sc rf} is simply
482 + an extension of the group-based cutoff method where the net dipole
483 + within the cutoff sphere polarizes an external dielectric, which
484 + reacts back on the central dipole.  The same switching function
485 + considerations for group-based cutoffs need to made for {\sc rf}, with
486 + the additional pre-specification of a dielectric constant.
487 +
488   \section{Methods}
489 +
490 + In classical molecular mechanics simulations, there are two primary
491 + techniques utilized to obtain information about the system of
492 + interest: Monte Carlo (MC) and Molecular Dynamics (MD).  Both of these
493 + techniques utilize pairwise summations of interactions between
494 + particle sites, but they use these summations in different ways.
495 +
496 + In MC, the potential energy difference between configurations dictates
497 + the progression of MC sampling.  Going back to the origins of this
498 + method, the acceptance criterion for the canonical ensemble laid out
499 + by Metropolis \textit{et al.} states that a subsequent configuration
500 + is accepted if $\Delta E < 0$ or if $\xi < \exp(-\Delta E/kT)$, where
501 + $\xi$ is a random number between 0 and 1.\cite{Metropolis53}
502 + Maintaining the correct $\Delta E$ when using an alternate method for
503 + handling the long-range electrostatics will ensure proper sampling
504 + from the ensemble.
505 +
506 + In MD, the derivative of the potential governs how the system will
507 + progress in time.  Consequently, the force and torque vectors on each
508 + body in the system dictate how the system evolves.  If the magnitude
509 + and direction of these vectors are similar when using alternate
510 + electrostatic summation techniques, the dynamics in the short term
511 + will be indistinguishable.  Because error in MD calculations is
512 + cumulative, one should expect greater deviation at longer times,
513 + although methods which have large differences in the force and torque
514 + vectors will diverge from each other more rapidly.
515 +
516 + \subsection{Monte Carlo and the Energy Gap}\label{sec:MCMethods}
517 +
518 + The pairwise summation techniques (outlined in section
519 + \ref{sec:ESMethods}) were evaluated for use in MC simulations by
520 + studying the energy differences between conformations.  We took the
521 + {\sc spme}-computed energy difference between two conformations to be the
522 + correct behavior. An ideal performance by an alternative method would
523 + reproduce these energy differences exactly (even if the absolute
524 + energies calculated by the methods are different).  Since none of the
525 + methods provide exact energy differences, we used linear least squares
526 + regressions of energy gap data to evaluate how closely the methods
527 + mimicked the Ewald energy gaps.  Unitary results for both the
528 + correlation (slope) and correlation coefficient for these regressions
529 + indicate perfect agreement between the alternative method and {\sc spme}.
530 + Sample correlation plots for two alternate methods are shown in
531 + Fig. \ref{fig:linearFit}.
532 +
533 + \begin{figure}
534 + \centering
535 + \includegraphics[width = \linewidth]{./dualLinear.pdf}
536 + \caption{Example least squares regressions of the configuration energy
537 + differences for SPC/E water systems. The upper plot shows a data set
538 + with a poor correlation coefficient ($R^2$), while the lower plot
539 + shows a data set with a good correlation coefficient.}
540 + \label{fig:linearFit}
541 + \end{figure}
542 +
543 + Each system type (detailed in section \ref{sec:RepSims}) was
544 + represented using 500 independent configurations.  Additionally, we
545 + used seven different system types, so each of the alternative
546 + (non-Ewald) electrostatic summation methods was evaluated using
547 + 873,250 configurational energy differences.
548 +
549 + Results and discussion for the individual analysis of each of the
550 + system types appear in the supporting information, while the
551 + cumulative results over all the investigated systems appears below in
552 + section \ref{sec:EnergyResults}.
553 +
554 + \subsection{Molecular Dynamics and the Force and Torque Vectors}\label{sec:MDMethods}
555 + We evaluated the pairwise methods (outlined in section
556 + \ref{sec:ESMethods}) for use in MD simulations by
557 + comparing the force and torque vectors with those obtained using the
558 + reference Ewald summation ({\sc spme}).  Both the magnitude and the
559 + direction of these vectors on each of the bodies in the system were
560 + analyzed.  For the magnitude of these vectors, linear least squares
561 + regression analyses were performed as described previously for
562 + comparing $\Delta E$ values.  Instead of a single energy difference
563 + between two system configurations, we compared the magnitudes of the
564 + forces (and torques) on each molecule in each configuration.  For a
565 + system of 1000 water molecules and 40 ions, there are 1040 force
566 + vectors and 1000 torque vectors.  With 500 configurations, this
567 + results in 520,000 force and 500,000 torque vector comparisons.
568 + Additionally, data from seven different system types was aggregated
569 + before the comparison was made.
570 +
571 + The {\it directionality} of the force and torque vectors was
572 + investigated through measurement of the angle ($\theta$) formed
573 + between those computed from the particular method and those from {\sc spme},
574 + \begin{equation}
575 + \theta_f = \cos^{-1} \left(\hat{F}_\textrm{SPME} \cdot \hat{F}_\textrm{M}\right),
576 + \end{equation}
577 + where $\hat{F}_\textrm{M}$ is the unit vector pointing along the force
578 + vector computed using method M.  Each of these $\theta$ values was
579 + accumulated in a distribution function and weighted by the area on the
580 + unit sphere.  Since this distribution is a measure of angular error
581 + between two different electrostatic summation methods, there is no
582 + {\it a priori} reason for the profile to adhere to any specific
583 + shape. Thus, gaussian fits were used to measure the width of the
584 + resulting distributions.
585 + %
586 + %\begin{figure}
587 + %\centering
588 + %\includegraphics[width = \linewidth]{./gaussFit.pdf}
589 + %\caption{Sample fit of the angular distribution of the force vectors
590 + %accumulated using all of the studied systems.  Gaussian fits were used
591 + %to obtain values for the variance in force and torque vectors.}
592 + %\label{fig:gaussian}
593 + %\end{figure}
594 + %
595 + %Figure \ref{fig:gaussian} shows an example distribution with applied
596 + %non-linear fits.  The solid line is a Gaussian profile, while the
597 + %dotted line is a Voigt profile, a convolution of a Gaussian and a
598 + %Lorentzian.  
599 + %Since this distribution is a measure of angular error between two
600 + %different electrostatic summation methods, there is no {\it a priori}
601 + %reason for the profile to adhere to any specific shape.
602 + %Gaussian fits was used to compare all the tested methods.  
603 + The variance ($\sigma^2$) was extracted from each of these fits and
604 + was used to compare distribution widths.  Values of $\sigma^2$ near
605 + zero indicate vector directions indistinguishable from those
606 + calculated when using the reference method ({\sc spme}).
607  
608 + \subsection{Short-time Dynamics}
609 +
610 + The effects of the alternative electrostatic summation methods on the
611 + short-time dynamics of charged systems were evaluated by considering a
612 + NaCl crystal at a temperature of 1000 K.  A subset of the best
613 + performing pairwise methods was used in this comparison.  The NaCl
614 + crystal was chosen to avoid possible complications from the treatment
615 + of orientational motion in molecular systems.  All systems were
616 + started with the same initial positions and velocities.  Simulations
617 + were performed under the microcanonical ensemble, and velocity
618 + autocorrelation functions (Eq. \ref{eq:vCorr}) were computed for each
619 + of the trajectories,
620 + \begin{equation}
621 + C_v(t) = \frac{\langle v(0)\cdot v(t)\rangle}{\langle v^2\rangle}.
622 + \label{eq:vCorr}
623 + \end{equation}
624 + Velocity autocorrelation functions require detailed short time data,
625 + thus velocity information was saved every 2 fs over 10 ps
626 + trajectories. Because the NaCl crystal is composed of two different
627 + atom types, the average of the two resulting velocity autocorrelation
628 + functions was used for comparisons.
629 +
630 + \subsection{Long-Time and Collective Motion}\label{sec:LongTimeMethods}
631 +
632 + The effects of the same subset of alternative electrostatic methods on
633 + the {\it long-time} dynamics of charged systems were evaluated using
634 + the same model system (NaCl crystals at 1000K).  The power spectrum
635 + ($I(\omega)$) was obtained via Fourier transform of the velocity
636 + autocorrelation function, \begin{equation} I(\omega) =
637 + \frac{1}{2\pi}\int^{\infty}_{-\infty}C_v(t)e^{-i\omega t}dt,
638 + \label{eq:powerSpec}
639 + \end{equation}
640 + where the frequency, $\omega=0,\ 1,\ ...,\ N-1$. Again, because the
641 + NaCl crystal is composed of two different atom types, the average of
642 + the two resulting power spectra was used for comparisons. Simulations
643 + were performed under the microcanonical ensemble, and velocity
644 + information was saved every 5 fs over 100 ps trajectories.
645 +
646 + \subsection{Representative Simulations}\label{sec:RepSims}
647 + A variety of representative simulations were analyzed to determine the
648 + relative effectiveness of the pairwise summation techniques in
649 + reproducing the energetics and dynamics exhibited by {\sc spme}.  We wanted
650 + to span the space of modern simulations (i.e. from liquids of neutral
651 + molecules to ionic crystals), so the systems studied were:
652 + \begin{enumerate}
653 + \item liquid water (SPC/E),\cite{Berendsen87}
654 + \item crystalline water (Ice I$_\textrm{c}$ crystals of SPC/E),
655 + \item NaCl crystals,
656 + \item NaCl melts,
657 + \item a low ionic strength solution of NaCl in water (0.11 M),
658 + \item a high ionic strength solution of NaCl in water (1.1 M), and
659 + \item a 6 \AA\  radius sphere of Argon in water.
660 + \end{enumerate}
661 + By utilizing the pairwise techniques (outlined in section
662 + \ref{sec:ESMethods}) in systems composed entirely of neutral groups,
663 + charged particles, and mixtures of the two, we hope to discern under
664 + which conditions it will be possible to use one of the alternative
665 + summation methodologies instead of the Ewald sum.
666 +
667 + For the solid and liquid water configurations, configurations were
668 + taken at regular intervals from high temperature trajectories of 1000
669 + SPC/E water molecules.  Each configuration was equilibrated
670 + independently at a lower temperature (300~K for the liquid, 200~K for
671 + the crystal).  The solid and liquid NaCl systems consisted of 500
672 + $\textrm{Na}^{+}$ and 500 $\textrm{Cl}^{-}$ ions.  Configurations for
673 + these systems were selected and equilibrated in the same manner as the
674 + water systems.  The equilibrated temperatures were 1000~K for the NaCl
675 + crystal and 7000~K for the liquid. The ionic solutions were made by
676 + solvating 4 (or 40) ions in a periodic box containing 1000 SPC/E water
677 + molecules.  Ion and water positions were then randomly swapped, and
678 + the resulting configurations were again equilibrated individually.
679 + Finally, for the Argon / Water ``charge void'' systems, the identities
680 + of all the SPC/E waters within 6 \AA\ of the center of the
681 + equilibrated water configurations were converted to argon.
682 + %(Fig. \ref{fig:argonSlice}).
683 +
684 + These procedures guaranteed us a set of representative configurations
685 + from chemically-relevant systems sampled from appropriate
686 + ensembles. Force field parameters for the ions and Argon were taken
687 + from the force field utilized by {\sc oopse}.\cite{Meineke05}
688 +
689 + %\begin{figure}
690 + %\centering
691 + %\includegraphics[width = \linewidth]{./slice.pdf}
692 + %\caption{A slice from the center of a water box used in a charge void
693 + %simulation.  The darkened region represents the boundary sphere within
694 + %which the water molecules were converted to argon atoms.}
695 + %\label{fig:argonSlice}
696 + %\end{figure}
697 +
698 + \subsection{Comparison of Summation Methods}\label{sec:ESMethods}
699 + We compared the following alternative summation methods with results
700 + from the reference method ({\sc spme}):
701 + \begin{itemize}
702 + \item {\sc sp} with damping parameters ($\alpha$) of 0.0, 0.1, 0.2,
703 + and 0.3 \AA$^{-1}$,
704 + \item {\sc sf} with damping parameters ($\alpha$) of 0.0, 0.1, 0.2,
705 + and 0.3 \AA$^{-1}$,
706 + \item reaction field with an infinite dielectric constant, and
707 + \item an unmodified cutoff.
708 + \end{itemize}
709 + Group-based cutoffs with a fifth-order polynomial switching function
710 + were utilized for the reaction field simulations.  Additionally, we
711 + investigated the use of these cutoffs with the {\sc sp}, {\sc sf}, and pure
712 + cutoff.  The {\sc spme} electrostatics were performed using the {\sc tinker}
713 + implementation of {\sc spme},\cite{Ponder87} while all other calculations
714 + were performed using the {\sc oopse} molecular mechanics
715 + package.\cite{Meineke05} All other portions of the energy calculation
716 + (i.e. Lennard-Jones interactions) were handled in exactly the same
717 + manner across all systems and configurations.
718 +
719 + The althernative methods were also evaluated with three different
720 + cutoff radii (9, 12, and 15 \AA).  As noted previously, the
721 + convergence parameter ($\alpha$) plays a role in the balance of the
722 + real-space and reciprocal-space portions of the Ewald calculation.
723 + Typical molecular mechanics packages set this to a value dependent on
724 + the cutoff radius and a tolerance (typically less than $1 \times
725 + 10^{-4}$ kcal/mol).  Smaller tolerances are typically associated with
726 + increasing accuracy at the expense of computational time spent on the
727 + reciprocal-space portion of the summation.\cite{Perram88,Essmann95}
728 + The default {\sc tinker} tolerance of $1 \times 10^{-8}$ kcal/mol was used
729 + in all {\sc spme} calculations, resulting in Ewald coefficients of 0.4200,
730 + 0.3119, and 0.2476 \AA$^{-1}$ for cutoff radii of 9, 12, and 15 \AA\
731 + respectively.
732 +
733   \section{Results and Discussion}
734  
735 + \subsection{Configuration Energy Differences}\label{sec:EnergyResults}
736 + In order to evaluate the performance of the pairwise electrostatic
737 + summation methods for Monte Carlo simulations, the energy differences
738 + between configurations were compared to the values obtained when using
739 + {\sc spme}.  The results for the subsequent regression analysis are shown in
740 + figure \ref{fig:delE}.
741 +
742 + \begin{figure}
743 + \centering
744 + \includegraphics[width=5.5in]{./delEplot.pdf}
745 + \caption{Statistical analysis of the quality of configurational energy
746 + differences for a given electrostatic method compared with the
747 + reference Ewald sum.  Results with a value equal to 1 (dashed line)
748 + indicate $\Delta E$ values indistinguishable from those obtained using
749 + {\sc spme}.  Different values of the cutoff radius are indicated with
750 + different symbols (9\AA\ = circles, 12\AA\ = squares, and 15\AA\ =
751 + inverted triangles).}
752 + \label{fig:delE}
753 + \end{figure}
754 +
755 + The most striking feature of this plot is how well the Shifted Force
756 + ({\sc sf}) and Shifted Potential ({\sc sp}) methods capture the energy
757 + differences.  For the undamped {\sc sf} method, and the
758 + moderately-damped {\sc sp} methods, the results are nearly
759 + indistinguishable from the Ewald results.  The other common methods do
760 + significantly less well.  
761 +
762 + The unmodified cutoff method is essentially unusable.  This is not
763 + surprising since hard cutoffs give large energy fluctuations as atoms
764 + or molecules move in and out of the cutoff
765 + radius.\cite{Rahman71,Adams79} These fluctuations can be alleviated to
766 + some degree by using group based cutoffs with a switching
767 + function.\cite{Adams79,Steinbach94,Leach01} However, we do not see
768 + significant improvement using the group-switched cutoff because the
769 + salt and salt solution systems contain non-neutral groups.  Interested
770 + readers can consult the accompanying supporting information for a
771 + comparison where all groups are neutral.
772 +
773 + For the {\sc sp} method, inclusion of electrostatic damping improves
774 + the agreement with Ewald, and using an $\alpha$ of 0.2 \AA $^{-1}$
775 + shows an excellent correlation and quality of fit with the {\sc spme}
776 + results, particularly with a cutoff radius greater than 12
777 + \AA .  Use of a larger damping parameter is more helpful for the
778 + shortest cutoff shown, but it has a detrimental effect on simulations
779 + with larger cutoffs.  
780 +
781 + In the {\sc sf} sets, increasing damping results in progressively {\it
782 + worse} correlation with Ewald.  Overall, the undamped case is the best
783 + performing set, as the correlation and quality of fits are
784 + consistently superior regardless of the cutoff distance.  The undamped
785 + case is also less computationally demanding (because no evaluation of
786 + the complementary error function is required).
787 +
788 + The reaction field results illustrates some of that method's
789 + limitations, primarily that it was developed for use in homogenous
790 + systems; although it does provide results that are an improvement over
791 + those from an unmodified cutoff.
792 +
793 + \subsection{Magnitudes of the Force and Torque Vectors}
794 +
795 + Evaluation of pairwise methods for use in Molecular Dynamics
796 + simulations requires consideration of effects on the forces and
797 + torques.  Figures \ref{fig:frcMag} and \ref{fig:trqMag} show the
798 + regression results for the force and torque vector magnitudes,
799 + respectively.  The data in these figures was generated from an
800 + accumulation of the statistics from all of the system types.
801 +
802 + \begin{figure}
803 + \centering
804 + \includegraphics[width=5.5in]{./frcMagplot.pdf}
805 + \caption{Statistical analysis of the quality of the force vector
806 + magnitudes for a given electrostatic method compared with the
807 + reference Ewald sum.  Results with a value equal to 1 (dashed line)
808 + indicate force magnitude values indistinguishable from those obtained
809 + using {\sc spme}.  Different values of the cutoff radius are indicated with
810 + different symbols (9\AA\ = circles, 12\AA\ = squares, and 15\AA\ =
811 + inverted triangles).}
812 + \label{fig:frcMag}
813 + \end{figure}
814 +
815 + Again, it is striking how well the Shifted Potential and Shifted Force
816 + methods are doing at reproducing the {\sc spme} forces.  The undamped and
817 + weakly-damped {\sc sf} method gives the best agreement with Ewald.
818 + This is perhaps expected because this method explicitly incorporates a
819 + smooth transition in the forces at the cutoff radius as well as the
820 + neutralizing image charges.
821 +
822 + Figure \ref{fig:frcMag}, for the most part, parallels the results seen
823 + in the previous $\Delta E$ section.  The unmodified cutoff results are
824 + poor, but using group based cutoffs and a switching function provides
825 + an improvement much more significant than what was seen with $\Delta
826 + E$.
827 +
828 + With moderate damping and a large enough cutoff radius, the {\sc sp}
829 + method is generating usable forces.  Further increases in damping,
830 + while beneficial for simulations with a cutoff radius of 9 \AA\ , is
831 + detrimental to simulations with larger cutoff radii.
832 +
833 + The reaction field results are surprisingly good, considering the poor
834 + quality of the fits for the $\Delta E$ results.  There is still a
835 + considerable degree of scatter in the data, but the forces correlate
836 + well with the Ewald forces in general.  We note that the reaction
837 + field calculations do not include the pure NaCl systems, so these
838 + results are partly biased towards conditions in which the method
839 + performs more favorably.
840 +
841 + \begin{figure}
842 + \centering
843 + \includegraphics[width=5.5in]{./trqMagplot.pdf}
844 + \caption{Statistical analysis of the quality of the torque vector
845 + magnitudes for a given electrostatic method compared with the
846 + reference Ewald sum.  Results with a value equal to 1 (dashed line)
847 + indicate torque magnitude values indistinguishable from those obtained
848 + using {\sc spme}.  Different values of the cutoff radius are indicated with
849 + different symbols (9\AA\ = circles, 12\AA\ = squares, and 15\AA\ =
850 + inverted triangles).}
851 + \label{fig:trqMag}
852 + \end{figure}
853 +
854 + Molecular torques were only available from the systems which contained
855 + rigid molecules (i.e. the systems containing water).  The data in
856 + fig. \ref{fig:trqMag} is taken from this smaller sampling pool.
857 +
858 + Torques appear to be much more sensitive to charges at a longer
859 + distance.   The striking feature in comparing the new electrostatic
860 + methods with {\sc spme} is how much the agreement improves with increasing
861 + cutoff radius.  Again, the weakly damped and undamped {\sc sf} method
862 + appears to be reproducing the {\sc spme} torques most accurately.  
863 +
864 + Water molecules are dipolar, and the reaction field method reproduces
865 + the effect of the surrounding polarized medium on each of the
866 + molecular bodies. Therefore it is not surprising that reaction field
867 + performs best of all of the methods on molecular torques.
868 +
869 + \subsection{Directionality of the Force and Torque Vectors}
870 +
871 + It is clearly important that a new electrostatic method can reproduce
872 + the magnitudes of the force and torque vectors obtained via the Ewald
873 + sum. However, the {\it directionality} of these vectors will also be
874 + vital in calculating dynamical quantities accurately.  Force and
875 + torque directionalities were investigated by measuring the angles
876 + formed between these vectors and the same vectors calculated using
877 + {\sc spme}.  The results (Fig. \ref{fig:frcTrqAng}) are compared through the
878 + variance ($\sigma^2$) of the Gaussian fits of the angle error
879 + distributions of the combined set over all system types.
880 +
881 + \begin{figure}
882 + \centering
883 + \includegraphics[width=5.5in]{./frcTrqAngplot.pdf}
884 + \caption{Statistical analysis of the width of the angular distribution
885 + that the force and torque vectors from a given electrostatic method
886 + make with their counterparts obtained using the reference Ewald sum.
887 + Results with a variance ($\sigma^2$) equal to zero (dashed line)
888 + indicate force and torque directions indistinguishable from those
889 + obtained using {\sc spme}.  Different values of the cutoff radius are
890 + indicated with different symbols (9\AA\ = circles, 12\AA\ = squares,
891 + and 15\AA\ = inverted triangles).}
892 + \label{fig:frcTrqAng}
893 + \end{figure}
894 +
895 + Both the force and torque $\sigma^2$ results from the analysis of the
896 + total accumulated system data are tabulated in figure
897 + \ref{fig:frcTrqAng}. Here it is clear that the Shifted Potential ({\sc
898 + sp}) method would be essentially unusable for molecular dynamics
899 + unless the damping function is added.  The Shifted Force ({\sc sf})
900 + method, however, is generating force and torque vectors which are
901 + within a few degrees of the Ewald results even with weak (or no)
902 + damping.
903 +
904 + All of the sets (aside from the over-damped case) show the improvement
905 + afforded by choosing a larger cutoff radius.  Increasing the cutoff
906 + from 9 to 12 \AA\ typically results in a halving of the width of the
907 + distribution, with a similar improvement when going from 12 to 15
908 + \AA .
909 +
910 + The undamped {\sc sf}, group-based cutoff, and reaction field methods
911 + all do equivalently well at capturing the direction of both the force
912 + and torque vectors.  Using the electrostatic damping improves the
913 + angular behavior significantly for the {\sc sp} and moderately for the
914 + {\sc sf} methods.  Overdamping is detrimental to both methods.  Again
915 + it is important to recognize that the force vectors cover all
916 + particles in all seven systems, while torque vectors are only
917 + available for neutral molecular groups.  Damping is more beneficial to
918 + charged bodies, and this observation is investigated further in the
919 + accompanying supporting information.
920 +
921 + Although not discussed previously, group based cutoffs can be applied
922 + to both the {\sc sp} and {\sc sf} methods.  The group-based cutoffs
923 + will reintroduce small discontinuities at the cutoff radius, but the
924 + effects of these can be minimized by utilizing a switching function.
925 + Though there are no significant benefits or drawbacks observed in
926 + $\Delta E$ and the force and torque magnitudes when doing this, there
927 + is a measurable improvement in the directionality of the forces and
928 + torques. Table \ref{tab:groupAngle} shows the angular variances
929 + obtained using group based cutoffs along with the results seen in
930 + figure \ref{fig:frcTrqAng}.  The {\sc sp} (with an $\alpha$ of 0.2
931 + \AA$^{-1}$ or smaller) shows much narrower angular distributions when
932 + using group-based cutoffs. The {\sc sf} method likewise shows
933 + improvement in the undamped and lightly damped cases.
934 +
935 + \begin{table}[htbp]
936 +   \centering
937 +   \caption{Statistical analysis of the angular
938 +   distributions that the force (upper) and torque (lower) vectors
939 +   from a given electrostatic method make with their counterparts
940 +   obtained using the reference Ewald sum.  Calculations were
941 +   performed both with (Y) and without (N) group based cutoffs and a
942 +   switching function.  The $\alpha$ values have units of \AA$^{-1}$
943 +   and the variance values have units of degrees$^2$.}
944 +
945 +   \begin{tabular}{@{} ccrrrrrrrr @{}}
946 +      \\
947 +      \toprule
948 +      & & \multicolumn{4}{c}{Shifted Potential} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{Shifted Force} \\
949 +      \cmidrule(lr){3-6}
950 +      \cmidrule(l){7-10}
951 +            $R_\textrm{c}$ & Groups & $\alpha = 0$ & $\alpha = 0.1$ & $\alpha = 0.2$ & $\alpha = 0.3$ & $\alpha = 0$ & $\alpha = 0.1$ & $\alpha = 0.2$ & $\alpha = 0.3$\\
952 +      \midrule
953 +    
954 + 9 \AA   & N & 29.545 & 12.003 & 5.489 & 0.610 & 2.323 & 2.321 & 0.429 & 0.603 \\
955 +        & \textbf{Y} & \textbf{2.486} & \textbf{2.160} & \textbf{0.667} & \textbf{0.608} & \textbf{1.768} & \textbf{1.766} & \textbf{0.676} & \textbf{0.609} \\
956 + 12 \AA  & N & 19.381 & 3.097 & 0.190 & 0.608 & 0.920 & 0.736 & 0.133 & 0.612 \\
957 +        & \textbf{Y} & \textbf{0.515} & \textbf{0.288} & \textbf{0.127} & \textbf{0.586} & \textbf{0.308} & \textbf{0.249} & \textbf{0.127} & \textbf{0.586} \\
958 + 15 \AA  & N & 12.700 & 1.196 & 0.123 & 0.601 & 0.339 & 0.160 & 0.123 & 0.601 \\
959 +        & \textbf{Y} & \textbf{0.228} & \textbf{0.099} & \textbf{0.121} & \textbf{0.598} & \textbf{0.144} & \textbf{0.090} & \textbf{0.121} & \textbf{0.598} \\      
960 +
961 +      \midrule
962 +      
963 + 9 \AA   & N & 262.716 & 116.585 & 5.234 & 5.103 & 2.392 & 2.350 & 1.770 & 5.122 \\
964 +        & \textbf{Y} & \textbf{2.115} & \textbf{1.914} & \textbf{1.878} & \textbf{5.142} & \textbf{2.076} & \textbf{2.039} & \textbf{1.972} & \textbf{5.146} \\
965 + 12 \AA  & N & 129.576 & 25.560 & 1.369 & 5.080 & 0.913 & 0.790 & 1.362 & 5.124 \\
966 +        & \textbf{Y} & \textbf{0.810} & \textbf{0.685} & \textbf{1.352} & \textbf{5.082} & \textbf{0.765} & \textbf{0.714} & \textbf{1.360} & \textbf{5.082} \\
967 + 15 \AA  & N & 87.275 & 4.473 & 1.271 & 5.000 & 0.372 & 0.312 & 1.271 & 5.000 \\
968 +        & \textbf{Y} & \textbf{0.282} & \textbf{0.294} & \textbf{1.272} & \textbf{4.999} & \textbf{0.324} & \textbf{0.318} & \textbf{1.272} & \textbf{4.999} \\
969 +
970 +      \bottomrule
971 +   \end{tabular}
972 +   \label{tab:groupAngle}
973 + \end{table}
974 +
975 + One additional trend in table \ref{tab:groupAngle} is that the
976 + $\sigma^2$ values for both {\sc sp} and {\sc sf} converge as $\alpha$
977 + increases, something that is more obvious with group-based cutoffs.
978 + The complimentary error function inserted into the potential weakens
979 + the electrostatic interaction as the value of $\alpha$ is increased.
980 + However, at larger values of $\alpha$, it is possible to overdamp the
981 + electrostatic interaction and to remove it completely.  Kast
982 + \textit{et al.}  developed a method for choosing appropriate $\alpha$
983 + values for these types of electrostatic summation methods by fitting
984 + to $g(r)$ data, and their methods indicate optimal values of 0.34,
985 + 0.25, and 0.16 \AA$^{-1}$ for cutoff values of 9, 12, and 15 \AA\
986 + respectively.\cite{Kast03} These appear to be reasonable choices to
987 + obtain proper MC behavior (Fig. \ref{fig:delE}); however, based on
988 + these findings, choices this high would introduce error in the
989 + molecular torques, particularly for the shorter cutoffs.  Based on our
990 + observations, empirical damping up to 0.2 \AA$^{-1}$ is beneficial,
991 + but damping may be unnecessary when using the {\sc sf} method.
992 +
993 + \subsection{Short-Time Dynamics: Velocity Autocorrelation Functions of NaCl Crystals}
994 +
995 + Zahn {\it et al.} investigated the structure and dynamics of water
996 + using eqs. (\ref{eq:ZahnPot}) and
997 + (\ref{eq:WolfForces}).\cite{Zahn02,Kast03} Their results indicated
998 + that a method similar (but not identical with) the damped {\sc sf}
999 + method resulted in properties very similar to those obtained when
1000 + using the Ewald summation.  The properties they studied (pair
1001 + distribution functions, diffusion constants, and velocity and
1002 + orientational correlation functions) may not be particularly sensitive
1003 + to the long-range and collective behavior that governs the
1004 + low-frequency behavior in crystalline systems.  Additionally, the
1005 + ionic crystals are the worst case scenario for the pairwise methods
1006 + because they lack the reciprocal space contribution contained in the
1007 + Ewald summation.  
1008 +
1009 + We are using two separate measures to probe the effects of these
1010 + alternative electrostatic methods on the dynamics in crystalline
1011 + materials.  For short- and intermediate-time dynamics, we are
1012 + computing the velocity autocorrelation function, and for long-time
1013 + and large length-scale collective motions, we are looking at the
1014 + low-frequency portion of the power spectrum.
1015 +
1016 + \begin{figure}
1017 + \centering
1018 + \includegraphics[width = \linewidth]{./vCorrPlot.pdf}
1019 + \caption{Velocity autocorrelation functions of NaCl crystals at
1020 + 1000 K using {\sc spme}, {\sc sf} ($\alpha$ = 0.0, 0.1, \& 0.2), and {\sc
1021 + sp} ($\alpha$ = 0.2). The inset is a magnification of the area around
1022 + the first minimum.  The times to first collision are nearly identical,
1023 + but differences can be seen in the peaks and troughs, where the
1024 + undamped and weakly damped methods are stiffer than the moderately
1025 + damped and {\sc spme} methods.}
1026 + \label{fig:vCorrPlot}
1027 + \end{figure}
1028 +
1029 + The short-time decay of the velocity autocorrelation function through
1030 + the first collision are nearly identical in figure
1031 + \ref{fig:vCorrPlot}, but the peaks and troughs of the functions show
1032 + how the methods differ.  The undamped {\sc sf} method has deeper
1033 + troughs (see inset in Fig. \ref{fig:vCorrPlot}) and higher peaks than
1034 + any of the other methods.  As the damping parameter ($\alpha$) is
1035 + increased, these peaks are smoothed out, and the {\sc sf} method
1036 + approaches the {\sc spme} results.  With $\alpha$ values of 0.2 \AA$^{-1}$,
1037 + the {\sc sf} and {\sc sp} functions are nearly identical and track the
1038 + {\sc spme} features quite well.  This is not surprising because the {\sc sf}
1039 + and {\sc sp} potentials become nearly identical with increased
1040 + damping.  However, this appears to indicate that once damping is
1041 + utilized, the details of the form of the potential (and forces)
1042 + constructed out of the damped electrostatic interaction are less
1043 + important.
1044 +
1045 + \subsection{Collective Motion: Power Spectra of NaCl Crystals}
1046 +
1047 + To evaluate how the differences between the methods affect the
1048 + collective long-time motion, we computed power spectra from long-time
1049 + traces of the velocity autocorrelation function. The power spectra for
1050 + the best-performing alternative methods are shown in
1051 + fig. \ref{fig:methodPS}.  Apodization of the correlation functions via
1052 + a cubic switching function between 40 and 50 ps was used to reduce the
1053 + ringing resulting from data truncation.  This procedure had no
1054 + noticeable effect on peak location or magnitude.
1055 +
1056 + \begin{figure}
1057 + \centering
1058 + \includegraphics[width = \linewidth]{./spectraSquare.pdf}
1059 + \caption{Power spectra obtained from the velocity auto-correlation
1060 + functions of NaCl crystals at 1000 K while using {\sc spme}, {\sc sf}
1061 + ($\alpha$ = 0, 0.1, \& 0.2), and {\sc sp} ($\alpha$ = 0.2).  The inset
1062 + shows the frequency region below 100 cm$^{-1}$ to highlight where the
1063 + spectra differ.}
1064 + \label{fig:methodPS}
1065 + \end{figure}
1066 +
1067 + While the high frequency regions of the power spectra for the
1068 + alternative methods are quantitatively identical with Ewald spectrum,
1069 + the low frequency region shows how the summation methods differ.
1070 + Considering the low-frequency inset (expanded in the upper frame of
1071 + figure \ref{fig:dampInc}), at frequencies below 100 cm$^{-1}$, the
1072 + correlated motions are blue-shifted when using undamped or weakly
1073 + damped {\sc sf}.  When using moderate damping ($\alpha = 0.2$
1074 + \AA$^{-1}$) both the {\sc sf} and {\sc sp} methods give nearly identical
1075 + correlated motion to the Ewald method (which has a convergence
1076 + parameter of 0.3119 \AA$^{-1}$).  This weakening of the electrostatic
1077 + interaction with increased damping explains why the long-ranged
1078 + correlated motions are at lower frequencies for the moderately damped
1079 + methods than for undamped or weakly damped methods.
1080 +
1081 + To isolate the role of the damping constant, we have computed the
1082 + spectra for a single method ({\sc sf}) with a range of damping
1083 + constants and compared this with the {\sc spme} spectrum.
1084 + Fig. \ref{fig:dampInc} shows more clearly that increasing the
1085 + electrostatic damping red-shifts the lowest frequency phonon modes.
1086 + However, even without any electrostatic damping, the {\sc sf} method
1087 + has at most a 10 cm$^{-1}$ error in the lowest frequency phonon mode.
1088 + Without the {\sc sf} modifications, an undamped (pure cutoff) method
1089 + would predict the lowest frequency peak near 325 cm$^{-1}$.  {\it
1090 + Most} of the collective behavior in the crystal is accurately captured
1091 + using the {\sc sf} method.  Quantitative agreement with Ewald can be
1092 + obtained using moderate damping in addition to the shifting at the
1093 + cutoff distance.
1094 +
1095 + \begin{figure}
1096 + \centering
1097 + \includegraphics[width = \linewidth]{./increasedDamping.pdf}
1098 + \caption{Effect of damping on the two lowest-frequency phonon modes in
1099 + the NaCl crystal at 1000K.  The undamped shifted force ({\sc sf})
1100 + method is off by less than 10 cm$^{-1}$, and increasing the
1101 + electrostatic damping to 0.25 \AA$^{-1}$ gives quantitative agreement
1102 + with the power spectrum obtained using the Ewald sum.  Overdamping can
1103 + result in underestimates of frequencies of the long-wavelength
1104 + motions.}
1105 + \label{fig:dampInc}
1106 + \end{figure}
1107 +
1108   \section{Conclusions}
1109  
1110 + This investigation of pairwise electrostatic summation techniques
1111 + shows that there are viable and computationally efficient alternatives
1112 + to the Ewald summation.  These methods are derived from the damped and
1113 + cutoff-neutralized Coulombic sum originally proposed by Wolf
1114 + \textit{et al.}\cite{Wolf99} In particular, the {\sc sf}
1115 + method, reformulated above as eqs. (\ref{eq:DSFPot}) and
1116 + (\ref{eq:DSFForces}), shows a remarkable ability to reproduce the
1117 + energetic and dynamic characteristics exhibited by simulations
1118 + employing lattice summation techniques.  The cumulative energy
1119 + difference results showed the undamped {\sc sf} and moderately damped
1120 + {\sc sp} methods produced results nearly identical to {\sc spme}.  Similarly
1121 + for the dynamic features, the undamped or moderately damped {\sc sf}
1122 + and moderately damped {\sc sp} methods produce force and torque vector
1123 + magnitude and directions very similar to the expected values.  These
1124 + results translate into long-time dynamic behavior equivalent to that
1125 + produced in simulations using {\sc spme}.
1126 +
1127 + As in all purely-pairwise cutoff methods, these methods are expected
1128 + to scale approximately {\it linearly} with system size, and they are
1129 + easily parallelizable.  This should result in substantial reductions
1130 + in the computational cost of performing large simulations.
1131 +
1132 + Aside from the computational cost benefit, these techniques have
1133 + applicability in situations where the use of the Ewald sum can prove
1134 + problematic.  Of greatest interest is their potential use in
1135 + interfacial systems, where the unmodified lattice sum techniques
1136 + artificially accentuate the periodicity of the system in an
1137 + undesirable manner.  There have been alterations to the standard Ewald
1138 + techniques, via corrections and reformulations, to compensate for
1139 + these systems; but the pairwise techniques discussed here require no
1140 + modifications, making them natural tools to tackle these problems.
1141 + Additionally, this transferability gives them benefits over other
1142 + pairwise methods, like reaction field, because estimations of physical
1143 + properties (e.g. the dielectric constant) are unnecessary.
1144 +
1145 + If a researcher is using Monte Carlo simulations of large chemical
1146 + systems containing point charges, most structural features will be
1147 + accurately captured using the undamped {\sc sf} method or the {\sc sp}
1148 + method with an electrostatic damping of 0.2 \AA$^{-1}$.  These methods
1149 + would also be appropriate for molecular dynamics simulations where the
1150 + data of interest is either structural or short-time dynamical
1151 + quantities.  For long-time dynamics and collective motions, the safest
1152 + pairwise method we have evaluated is the {\sc sf} method with an
1153 + electrostatic damping between 0.2 and 0.25
1154 + \AA$^{-1}$.
1155 +
1156 + We are not suggesting that there is any flaw with the Ewald sum; in
1157 + fact, it is the standard by which these simple pairwise sums have been
1158 + judged.  However, these results do suggest that in the typical
1159 + simulations performed today, the Ewald summation may no longer be
1160 + required to obtain the level of accuracy most researchers have come to
1161 + expect.
1162 +
1163   \section{Acknowledgments}
1164 + Support for this project was provided by the National Science
1165 + Foundation under grant CHE-0134881.  The authors would like to thank
1166 + Steve Corcelli and Ed Maginn for helpful discussions and comments.
1167  
1168 < \newpage
1168 > \newpage
1169  
1170 < \bibliographystyle{achemso}
1170 > \bibliographystyle{jcp2}
1171   \bibliography{electrostaticMethods}
1172  
1173  

Diff Legend

Removed lines
+ Added lines
< Changed lines
> Changed lines