Liquid methane at extreme temperature and pressure: Implications for models of Uranus and Neptune

We present large scale electronic structure based molecular dynamics simulations of liquid methane at planetary conditions. In particular, we address the controversy of whether or not the interior of Uranus and Neptune consists of diamond. In our simulations we find no evidence for the formation of diamond, but rather sp2-bonded polymeric carbon. Furthermore, we predict that at high tem- perature hydrogen may exist in its monoatomic and metallic state. The implications of our finding for the planetary models of Uranus and Neptune are in detail discussed.

Competing factors on the frequency separation between the OH stretching modes in water

Abstract Recent simulations demonstrated that the inhomogeneous broadening as observed in the vibrational spectra of liquid water at ambient conditions can be viewed as a large vibrational splitting of symmetric and asymmetric OH stretching modes, due to the asymmetry of the local hydrogen-bonding network [J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2013, 4(19), pp 3245–3250]. In this work, we show that the finite temperature and the liquid phase do not only modulate the local hydrogen-bonding asymmetry of water molecules, but also the intramolecular coupling strength. These two factors compete together in the determination of the overall magnitude of the frequency separation between the two OH stretching modes …

Correction: “On-the-fly” coupled cluster path-integral molecular dynamics: impact of nuclear quantum effects on the protonated water dimer

We present an accelerated ab initio path-integral molecular dynamics technique, where the interatomic forces are calculated “on-the-fly” by accurate coupled cluster electronic structure calculations. In this way not only dynamic electron correlation, but also the harmonic and anharmonic zero-point energy, as well as tunneling effects are explicitly taken into account. This method thus allows for very precise finite temperature quantum molecular dynamics simulations. The predictive power of this novel approach is illustrated on the example of the protonated water dimer, where the impact of nuclear quantum effects on its structure and the 1H magnetic shielding tensor are discussed in detail.

Microscopic Origins of the Anomalous Melting Behavior of Sodium under High Pressure

X-ray diffraction experiments have shown that sodium exhibits a dramatic pressure-induced drop in melting temperature, which extends from 1000 K at ~30 GPa to as low as room temperature at ~120 GPa. Despite significant theoretical effort to understand the anomalous melting, its origins are still debated. In this work, we reconstruct the sodium phase diagram by using an ab initio quality neural-network potential. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the reentrant behavior results from the screening of interionic interactions by conduction electrons, which at high pressure induces a softening in the short-range repulsion.

Nuclear quantum effects in liquid water from path-integral simulations using anab initioforce-matching approach

We have applied path integral simulations, in combination with new ab initio based water potentials, to investigate nuclear quantum effects in liquid water. Because direct ab initio path integral simulations are computationally expensive, a flexible water model is parameterized by force-matching to density functional theory-based molecular dynamics simulations. The resulting effective potentials provide an inexpensive replacement for direct ab inito molecular dynamics simulations and allow efficient simulation of nuclear quantum effects. Static and dynamic properties of liquid water at ambient conditions are presented and the role of nuclear quantum effects, exchange-correlation functionals…

On fermionic shadow wave functions for strongly correlated multi-reference systems based on a single Slater determinant

We demonstrate that extending the Shadow Wave Function to fermionic systems facilitates to accurately calculate strongly-correlated multi-reference systems such as the stretched H2 molecule. This development considerably extends the scope of electronic structure calculations and enables to efficiently recover the static correlation energy using just a single Slater determinant.

Sign problem of the fermionic shadow wave function

We present a whole series of methods to alleviate the sign problem of the fermionic shadow wave function in the context of variational Monte Carlo. The effectiveness of our techniques is demonstrated on liquid ^{3}He. We found that although the variance is reduced, the gain in efficiency is restricted by the increased computational cost. Yet, this development not only extends the scope of the fermionic shadow wave function, but also facilitates highly accurate quantum Monte Carlo simulations previously thought not feasible.

Self-consistent field theory based molecular dynamics with linear system-size scaling

We present an improved field-theoretic approach to the grand-canonical potential suitable for linear scaling molecular dynamics simulations using forces from self-consistent electronic structure calculations. It is based on an exact decomposition of the grand canonical potential for independent fermions and does neither rely on the ability to localize the orbitals nor that the Hamilton operator is well-conditioned. Hence, this scheme enables highly accurate all-electron linear scaling calculations even for metallic systems. The inherent energy drift of Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics simulations, arising from an incomplete convergence of the self-consistent field cycle, is circumvented …

Nucleation mechanism for the direct graphite-to-diamond phase transition

Graphite and diamond have comparable free energies, yet forming diamond from graphite is far from easy. In the absence of a catalyst, pressures that are significantly higher than the equilibrium coexistence pressures are required to induce the graphite-to-diamond transition. Furthermore, the formation of the metastable hexagonal polymorph of diamond instead of the more stable cubic diamond is favored at lower temperatures. The concerted mechanism suggested in previous theoretical studies cannot explain these phenomena. Using an ab initio quality neural-network potential we performed a large-scale study of the graphite-to-diamond transition assuming that it occurs via nucleation. The nucleat…

Influence of the exchange and correlation functional on the structure of amorphous InSb and In3SbTe2 compounds

We have investigated the structural, vibrational, and electronic properties of the amorphous phase of InSb and In3SbTe2 compounds of interest for applications in phase change non-volatile memories. Models of the amorphous phase have been generated by quenching from the melt by molecular dynamics simulations based on density functional theory. In particular, we have studied the dependence of the structural properties on the choice of the exchange-correlation functional. It turns out that the use of the Becke-Lee-Yang-Parr functional provides models with a much larger fraction of In atoms in a tetrahedral bonding geometry with respect to previous results obtained with the most commonly used P…

Optimal calculation of the pair correlation function for an orthorhombic system

We present a new computational method to calculate arbitrary pair correlation functions of an orthorombic system in the most efficient way. The algorithm is demonstrated by the calculation of the radial distribution function of shock compressed liquid hydrogen.

Inverse simulated annealing for the determination of amorphous structures

We present a new and efficient optimization method to determine the structure of disordered systems in agreement with available experimental data. Our approach permits the application of accurate electronic structure calculations within the structure optimization. The new technique is demonstrated within density functional theory by the calculation of a model of amorphous carbon.

Vibrational Signature of Water Molecules in Asymmetric Hydrogen Bonding Environments

The O–H stretching vibrational modes of water molecules are sensitive to their local environments. Here, we applied effective normal-mode analysis to isolate contributions of each of the two hydrogen atoms to the vibrational modes ν1 and ν3 of water molecules in the liquid phase. We demonstrate that the decoupling of the two contributions fd and the frequency splitting of the vibrational modes Δω13 are inextricably related to the symmetry of the hydrogen bonding environment. We show that ambient liquid water modeled at the density functional level of theory exhibits the characteristics of an asymmetric environment with an average decoupling of 0.82 and a splitting of 137 inverse centimeters…

Microscopic origins of the anomalous melting behaviour of high-pressure sodium

Recent experiments have shown that sodium, a prototype simple metal at ambient conditions, exhibits unexpected complexity under high pressure. One of the most puzzling phenomena in the behaviour of dense sodium is the pressure-induced drop in its melting temperature, which extends from 1000 K at ~30GPa to as low as room temperature at ~120GPa. Despite significant theoretical effort to understand the anomalous melting its origins have remained unclear. In this work, we reconstruct the sodium phase diagram using an ab-initio-quality neural-network potential. We demonstrate that the reentrant behaviour results from the screening of interionic interactions by conduction electrons, which at high…

Inverse simulated annealing: Improvements and application to amorphous InSb

An improved inverse simulated annealing method is presented to determine the structure of complex disordered systems from first principles in agreement with available experimental data or desired predetermined target properties. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated by revisiting the structure of amorphous InSb. The resulting network is mostly tetrahedral and in excellent agreement with available experimental data.

First-principles study of nitrogen doping in cubic and amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5

We investigated the structural, electronic and vibrational properties of amorphous and cubic Ge(2)Sb(2)Te(5) doped with N at 4.2 at.% by means of large scale ab initio simulations. Nitrogen can be incorporated in molecular form in both the crystalline and amorphous phases at a moderate energy cost. In contrast, insertion of N in the atomic form is very energetically costly in the crystalline phase, though it is still possible in the amorphous phase. These results support the suggestion that N segregates at the grain boundaries during the crystallization of the amorphous phase, resulting in a reduction in size of the crystalline grains and an increased crystallization temperature.

Reply to Comment on “Mixed Grotthuss and Vehicle Transport Mechanism in Proton Conducting Polymers from Ab initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations”

Insights into Intrinsic Defects and the Incorporation of Na and K in the Cu2ZnSnSe4 Thin-Film Solar Cell Material from Hybrid-Functional Calculations

We have performed density functional theory calculations using the HSE06 hybrid functional to investigate the energetics, atomic, and electronic structure of intrinsic defects as well as Na and K impurities in the kesterite structure of the Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) solar cell material. We found that both Na and K atoms prefer to be incorporated into this material as substitutional defects in the Cu sublattice. At this site highly stable (Na–Na), (K–K), and (Na–K) dumbbells can form. While Na interstitial defects are stable in CZTSe, the formation of K interstitial defects is unlikely. In general, the calculated formation energies for Na-related defects are always lower compared to their K-related…

First principles simulation of amorphous InSb

Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations based on density functional theory have been performed to generate a model of amorphous InSb by quenching from the melt. The resulting network is mostly tetrahedral with a minor fraction ($10%$) of atoms in a fivefold coordination. The structural properties are in good agreement with available x-ray diffraction and extended x-ray-absorption fine structure data and confirm the proposed presence of a sizable fraction of homopolar In-In and Sb-Sb bonds whose concentration in our model amounts to about $20%$ of the total number of bonds.

Hybrid-Functional Calculations on the Incorporation of Na and K Impurities into the CuInSe 2 and CuIn 5 Se 8 Solar-Cell Materials

International audience; We have studied the energetics, atomic, and electronic structure of Na and K point defects, as well as the (Na-Na), (K-K), and (Na-K) dumbbells in CuInSe2 and CuIn5Se8 solar cell materials by hybrid functional calculations. We found that although Na and K behaves somewhat similar; there is a qualitative difference between the inclusion of Na and K impurities. Namely, Na will be mostly incorporated into CuInSe2 and CuIn5Se8 either as an interstitial defect coordinated by cations, or two Na impurities will form (Na-Na) dumbbells in the Cu sublattice. In contrast to Na, K impurities are less likely to form interstitial defects. Instead, it is more preferable to accommod…

Microscopic properties of liquid water from combined ab initio molecular dynamics and energy decomposition studies

The application of newly developed first-principle modeling techniques to liquid water deepens our understanding of the microscopic origins of its unusual macroscopic properties and behaviour. Here, we review two novel ab initio computational methods: second-generation Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics and decomposition analysis based on absolutely localized molecular orbitals. We show that these two methods in combination not only enable ab initio molecular dynamics simulations on previously inaccessible time and length scales, but also provide unprecedented insights into the nature of hydrogen bonding between water molecules. We discuss recent applications of these methods to water cluste…

The effect of Ag, Pb and Bi impurities on grain boundary sliding and intergranular decohesion in Copper

We investigate the changes in grain boundary sliding (GBS) and intergranular decohesion in copper (Cu), due to the inclusion of bismuth (Bi), lead (Pb) and silver (Ag) substitutional impurity atoms at a $\Sigma$5 (0 1 2) symmetric tilt grain boundary (GB), using a first-principles concurrent multiscale approach. We first study the segregation behavior of the impurities by determining the impurity segregation energy in the vicinity of the GB. We find that the energetically preferred sites are on the GB plane. We investigate the intergranular decohesion of Cu by Bi and Pb impurities and compare this to the effect of Ag impurities by considering the work of separation, $W_s$ and the tensile st…

First-principles study of the amorphous In3SbTe2phase change compound

Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations based on density functional theory were performed to generate amorphous models of the phase change compound In${}_{3}$SbTe${}_{2}$ by quenching from the melt. In-Sb and In-Te are the most abundant bonds with only a minor fraction of Sb-Te bonds. The bonding geometry in the amorphous phase is, however, strongly dependent on the density in the range 6.448--5.75 g/cm${}^{3}$ that we investigated. While at high density the bonding geometry of In atoms is mostly octahedral-like as in the cubic crystalline phase of the ternary compound In${}_{3}$SbTe${}_{2}$, at low density we observed a sizable fraction of tetrahedral-like geometries similar to those pres…

Hybrid functional calculations on the Na and K impurities in substitutional and interstitial positions in Cu2ZnSnSe4

We studied the energetics, atomic and electronic structure of Na and K extrinsic defects in Cu2ZnSnSe4 by ab initio calculations using the HSE06 hybrid functional. Our results show that (i) among all substitutional positions, the Cu-site is the most favorable position for both Na and K. (ii) The tetrahedrally coordinated interstitial site has a lower formation energy than the octahedrally coordinated interstitial site. (iii) Based on the band structure calculations we can conclude, Se-related defects lead to the formation of defect states within the band gap.

On the role of interfacial hydrogen bonds in "on-water" catalysis.

Numerous experiments have demonstrated that many classes of organic reactions exhibit increased reaction rates when performed in heterogeneous water emulsions. Despite enormous practical importance of the observed "on-water" catalytic effect and several mechanistic studies, its microscopic origins remains unclear. In this work, the second generation Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics method is extended to self-consistent charge density-functional based tight-binding in order to study "on-water" catalysis of the Diels-Alder reaction between dimethyl azodicarboxylate and quadricyclane. We find that the stabilization of the transition state by dangling hydrogen bonds exposed at the aqueous inte…

Study of water adsorption and capillary bridge formation for SiO(2) nanoparticle layers by means of a combined in situ FT-IR reflection spectroscopy and QCM-D set-up.

Water adsorption and capillary bridge formation within a layer of SiO2-nanoparticles were studied in situ by means of a combination of quartz crystal microbalance (QCM-D) with dissipation analysis and Fourier transformation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (FT-IRRAS). FT-IR data were employed to distinguish the “ice-like” and “liquid-like” contributions and to support the analysis of the QCM-D data concerning mass change and dissipation. Combined measurements show that for SiO2-nanoparticles with a diameter of about 250 nm, the formation of two adsorbed monolayers of water as well as bulk water leads to a rather linear increase in the dissipation for relative humidity values of u…

Resonating valence bond quantum Monte Carlo: Application to the ozone molecule

We study the potential energy surface of the ozone molecule by means of Quantum Monte Carlo simulations based on the resonating valence bond concept. The trial wave function consists of an antisymmetrized geminal power arranged in a single-determinant that is multiplied by a Jastrow correlation factor. Whereas the determinantal part incorporates static correlation effects, the augmented real-space correlation factor accounts for the dynamics electron correlation. The accuracy of this approach is demonstrated by computing the potential energy surface for the ozone molecule in three vibrational states: symmetric, asymmetric and scissoring. We find that the employed wave function provides a de…

Structure and Dynamics of the Instantaneous Water/Vapor Interface Revisited by Path-Integral and Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations

The structure and dynamics of the water/vapor interface is revisited by means of path-integral and second-generation Car-Parrinello ab-initio molecular dynamics simulations in conjunction with an instantaneous surface definition [A. P. Willard and D. Chandler, J. Phys. Chem. B 114, 1954 (2010)]. In agreement with previous studies, we find that one of the OH bonds of the water molecules in the topmost layer is pointing out of the water into the vapor phase, while the orientation of the underlying layer is reversed. Therebetween, an additional water layer is detected, where the molecules are aligned parallel to the instantaneous water surface.

Metal-Insulator Transition of Solid Hydrogen by the Antisymmetric Shadow Wave Function

We revisit the pressure-induced metal-insulator-transition of solid hydrogen by means of variational quantum Monte Carlo simulations based on the antisymmetric shadow wave function. In order to facilitate studying the electronic structure of large-scale fermionic systems, the shadow wave function formalism is extended by a series of technical improvements, such as a revised optimization method for the employed shadow wave function and an enhanced treatment of periodic systems with long-range interactions. It is found that the superior accuracy of the antisymmetric shadow wave function results in a significantly increased transition pressure.

Nature of the asymmetry in the hydrogen-bond networks of hexagonal ice and liquid water.

The interpretation of the X-ray spectra of water as evidence for its asymmetric structure has challenged the traditional nearly tetrahedral model and initiated an intense debate about the order and symmetry of the hydrogen-bond network in water. Here, we present new insights into the nature of local interactions in ice and liquid water obtained using a first-principle energy decomposition method. A comparative analysis shows that the majority of molecules in liquid water in our simulation exhibit hydrogen-bonding energy patterns similar to those in ice and retain the four-fold coordination with only moderately distorted tetrahedral configurations. Although this result indicates that the tra…

A General Algorithm to Calculate the Inverse Principal $p$-th Root of Symmetric Positive Definite Matrices

We address the general mathematical problem of computing the inverse p-th root of a given matrix in an efficient way. A new method to construct iteration functions that allow calculating arbitrary p-th roots and their inverses of symmetric positive definite matrices is presented. We show that the order of convergence is at least quadratic and that adaptively adjusting a parameter q always leads to an even faster convergence. In this way, a better performance than with previously known iteration schemes is achieved. The efficiency of the iterative functions is demonstrated for various matrices with different densities, condition numbers and spectral radii.

Ab initioquality neural-network potential for sodium

An interatomic potential for high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) crystalline and liquid phases of sodium is created using a neural-network (NN) representation of the ab initio potential energy surface. It is demonstrated that the NN potential provides an ab initio quality description of multiple properties of liquid sodium and bcc, fcc, cI16 crystal phases in the P-T region up to 120 GPa and 1200 K. The unique combination of computational efficiency of the NN potential and its ability to reproduce quantitatively experimental properties of sodium in the wide P-T range enables molecular dynamics simulations of physicochemical processes in HPHT sodium of unprecedented quality.

Linear-scaling self-consistent field theory based molecular dynamics: application to C60buckyballs colliding with graphite

In this work, we investigate the collision of a C fullerene with graphite using large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, where the interatomic forces are computed ‘on-the-fly’ by means of self-c...

Electronic signature of the instantaneous asymmetry in the first coordination shell of liquid water

Interpretation of the X-ray spectra of water as evidence for its asymmetric structure has challenged the conventional symmetric nearly-tetrahedral model and initiated an intense debate about the order and symmetry of the hydrogen bond network in water. Here, we present new insights into the nature of local interactions in water obtained using a novel energy decomposition method. Our simulations reveal that while a water molecule forms, on average, two strong donor and two strong acceptor bonds, there is a significant asymmetry in the energy of these contacts. We demonstrate that this asymmetry is a result of small instantaneous distortions of hydrogen bonds, which appear as fluctuations on …

Proton transfer through the water gossamer.

International audience; The diffusion of protons through water is understood within the framework of the Grotthuss mechanism, which requires that they undergo structural diffusion in a stepwise manner throughout the water network. Despite long study, this picture oversimplifies and neglects the complexity of the supramolecular structure of water. We use first-principles simulations and demonstrate that the currently accepted picture of proton diffusion is in need of revision. We show that proton and hydroxide diffusion occurs through periods of intense activity involving concerted proton hopping followed by periods of rest. The picture that emerges is that proton transfer is a multiscale an…

Second generation Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics

Computer simulation methods, such as Monte Carlo or molecular dynamics, are very powerful theoretical techniques to provide detailed and essentially exact informations on rather complex classical many-body problems. With the advent of ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD), where finite-temperature dynamical trajectories are generated using interatomic forces which are calculated on the fly using accurate electronic structure calculations, the scope of computational research has been greatly extended. This review is intended to outline the basic principles as well as being a survey of the field. Beginning with the derivation of Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamics, the Car–Parrinello method and…

New Insights into the Structure of the Vapor/Water Interface from Large-Scale First-Principles Simulations

We present extensive ab initio simulations of the molecular arrangements at the vapor/water interface, which provide valuable insights into the interface structure. In particular, the simulations address the controversy of whether there is a significant amount of nondonor configurations at this prototypical interface, using a novel Car-Parrinello-like ab initio molecular dynamics approach. The interface is modeled by a system of 384 water molecules for 125 ps in a two-dimensional periodic slab, the most extensive ab initio molecular dynamics simulation to date. In contrast to previous theoretical simulations and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, but consistent with sum-frequency generation exp…

Mixed Grotthuss and Vehicle Transport Mechanism in Proton Conducting Polymers from Ab initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations

We elucidate the microscopic mechanism of long-range proton conduction in poly[vinyl phosphonic acid] (PVPA), a highly promising proton conducting polymer. Using a steered ab initio molecular dynamics approach, we characterize the charge transport functionality of acid groups interacting with nonbulk water molecules intercalated in the polymer. Our results show that in PVPA, unlike in Nafion, water has a local vehicle/carrier function for excess protons. This function must however be combined with the Grotthuss-type conduction mechanism that is supplied by the acid groups in order to yield long-range charge transport. As an additional aspect, we find that contrary to common intuition, syste…