Molecular dynamics at constant temperature and pressure

Algorithms for molecular dynamics (MD) at constant temperature and pressure are investigated. The ability to remain in a regular orbit in an intermittent chaotic regime is used as a criterion for long-time stability. A simple time-centered algorithm (leap frog) is found to be the most stable of the commonly used algorithms in MD. A model of N one-dimensional dimers with a double-well intermolecular potential, for which the distribution functions at constant temperature T and pressure P can be calculated, is used to investigate MD-NPT dynamics. A time-centered NPT algorithm is found to sample correctly and to be very robust with respect to volume scaling.