[gmx-users] berendsen P coupling and fluctuation properties

Elisabeth katesedate at gmail.com
Wed Aug 17 05:27:19 CEST 2011


Thanks Justin for your thorough description. Is there any specific tool in
gromacs to plot histograms or you mean I follow the customary plotting
procedure?

I have one more question. I am now trying using PR pressure scheme with
v-rescale thermostat for NPT dynamics. Before dynamics run,  can I apply
berendsen barostat combined with v-rescale thermostat to equilibrate or
since I am using berendsen barostat, T coupling scheme has to be also
berendsen?

Thanks,


On 16 August 2011 13:17, Justin A. Lemkul <jalemkul at vt.edu> wrote:

>
>
> Elisabeth wrote:f
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> Thank you. I am looking at potential energies to calculate vaporization
>> heat. I wanted to know how the fact that berendsen does not lead to correct
>> ensemble is affecting total potential energy of the system. I have an
>> unclear image of "correct ensemble". Does this mean whatever output I am
>> getting from my runs are unreliable?
>>
>>
> The Berendsen coupling algorithms produce very narrow distributions of
> temperature and pressure.  These do not correspond to the correct
> distribution of a true statistical mechanical ensemble; plot a histogram and
> you'll find that the results are shockingly different between Berendsen and,
> say, Nose-Hoover for T.  Therefore, the ensemble you're using to measure
> your properties is not NPT (or NVT, in the case of thermostat only), it's
> something undefined and likely not real.  Applying better thermostats and
> barostats that have been shown to produce the correct distributions is more
> rigorously correct.
>
> The effects are usually not terribly noticeable unless you go looking for
> them.  You'll find that the Berendsen algorithms quite faithfully give you
> the target T and P that you desire (which does make them very good for
> initial equilibration) and so you naturally assume that everything is fine.
>  While that's all well and good in one sense, the fluctuations of T (and
> thus velocities, and thus kinetic energy) are wrong.  If KE does not
> fluctuate properly, then neither does PE (since you're then affecting energy
> flow between PE and KE, while total energy stays fixed, in theory).
>
> The larger point is that if you claim to apply an NVT (or NPT) ensemble
> using Berendsen coupling, you're not correct, strictly speaking.
>
> -Justin
>
>  Appreciate any clarification.
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Best,
>>
>> On 15 August 2011 19:34, Mark Abraham <Mark.Abraham at anu.edu.au <mailto:
>> Mark.Abraham at anu.edu.**au <Mark.Abraham at anu.edu.au>>> wrote:
>>
>>    On 16/08/2011 7:05 AM, Elisabeth wrote:
>>
>>>    Dear all,
>>>
>>>    I noticed that applying Parrinello-Rahman (PR) pressure coupling
>>>    even after equilibration with berendsen does not lead to target
>>>    value for pressure when
>>>
>>>    ;        Bonds
>>>    constraints             = none
>>>
>>>    is used.
>>>
>>
>>    The use of constraints and the integration step size is linked.
>>    Roughly speaking, no constraints should accompany a 0.5 fs time
>>    step, H-bond constraints with 1fs and all constraints with 2fs.
>>    Haphazard changes to .mdp files have all kinds of these "gotchas".
>>
>>
>>     I tried Berendsen for to get fixed pressure ( 50 bar) but in the
>>>    next run PR even for long time is giving 52 bar. This is the case
>>>    for other target pressures too.
>>>
>>
>>    You need to be sure to collect statistics only after equilibration,
>>    and consider whether the observed variation is consistent with
>>    convergence to a given value.
>>
>>
>>
>>>    So this made me select Berenden which is giving target pressure
>>>    values but my concern is whether my results are reliable because
>>>    BR does not give the exact ensemble as PR. I read somewhere on the
>>>    list that fluctuation properties can not be calculated when BR is
>>>    used.  What does "fluctuation property" mean?
>>>
>>
>>    BR does not produce the correct ensemble. I forget the details about
>>    why, but there are references in the T-coupling section of the
>>    manual you should consider.
>>
>>
>>     Does this mean that any property calculated form fluctuations of
>>>    some other quantity can not be obtained>? like heat capacity which
>>>    is defined based on enthalpy fluctuations?
>>>
>>
>>    IIRC, yes.
>>
>>
>>     I am interested in potential energy terms (g_energy bonded/non
>>>    boned terms)
>>>
>>
>>    I routinely struggle to see why people think they can learn anything
>>    from these.
>>
>>
>>     and structural properties like rdf for a number of polymer
>>>    molecules, system size around 3000 atoms.
>>>
>>>    Thank you for your comments.
>>>    Best,
>>>
>>>    constraints             = none
>>>    ;        Run control                       integrator          =  md
>>>                  dt                  =  0.001                   nsteps
>>>        =  5000000             nstcomm             =  100
>>>
>>>    nstenergy           =  100                    nstxout             =
>>>  100                     nstlist             =  10                   ns_type
>>>             =  grid
>>>    coulombtype         =  Shift                        vdw-type
>>>  =  Shift                 rcoulomb-switch     =  0
>>> rvdw-switch         =  0.9 ;0
>>>    ;        Cut-offs
>>>    rlist               =  1.25                     rcoulomb            =
>>>  1.0                rvdw                =  1.0
>>>    Tcoupl              =  v-rescale                     tc-grps
>>>   =  System                 tau_t               =  0.1                ref_t
>>>               =  300
>>>    Pcoupl              =  berendsen           Pcoupltype          =
>>>  isotropic                   tau_p               =  1
>>> compressibility     =  3.5e-5              ref_p               =  10
>>>
>>>                gen_vel             =  no
>>>    gen_temp            =  300.0                   gen_seed            =
>>>  173529
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
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> --
> ==============================**==========
>
> Justin A. Lemkul
> Ph.D. Candidate
> ICTAS Doctoral Scholar
> MILES-IGERT Trainee
> Department of Biochemistry
> Virginia Tech
> Blacksburg, VA
> jalemkul[at]vt.edu | (540) 231-9080
> http://www.bevanlab.biochem.**vt.edu/Pages/Personal/justin<http://www.bevanlab.biochem.vt.edu/Pages/Personal/justin>
>
> ==============================**==========
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