Event-driven molecular dynamics of soft particles

Müller P, Pöschel T (2013)


Publication Language: English

Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Journal article, Original article

Publication year: 2013

Journal

Publisher: American Physical Society

Book Volume: 87

Article Number: 033301

Journal Issue: 3

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.87.033301

Abstract

The dynamics of dissipative soft-sphere gases obeys Newton's equations of motion, which are commonly solved numerically by (force-based) Molecular Dynamics (MD) schemes. With the assumption of instantaneous, pairwise collisions, the simulation can be accelerated considerably using event-driven MD, where the coefficient of restitution is derived from the interaction force between particles. Recently it was shown, however, that this approach may fail dramatically, that is, the obtained trajectories deviate significantly from the ones predicted by Newton's equations. In this paper, we generalize the concept of the coefficient of restitution and derive a numerical scheme which, in the case of dilute systems and frictionless interaction, allows us to perform highly efficient event-driven MD simulations even for noninstantaneous collisions. We show that the particle trajectories predicted by our scheme agree perfectly with the corresponding (force-based) MD, except for a short transient period whose duration corresponds to the duration of the contact. Thus, the new algorithm solves Newton's equations of motion like force-based MD while preserving the advantages of event-driven simulations. © 2013 American Physical Society.

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How to cite

APA:

Müller, P., & Pöschel, T. (2013). Event-driven molecular dynamics of soft particles. Physical Review E, 87(3). https://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.87.033301

MLA:

Müller, Patric, and Thorsten Pöschel. "Event-driven molecular dynamics of soft particles." Physical Review E 87.3 (2013).

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