Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation

Quantum Trajectory Dynamics Based on Local Approximations to the Quantum Potential and Force

Sophya V. Garashchuk, Vitaly A. Rassolov

Published May 24, 2019• 9 citations

Abstract

The quantum nature of nuclei often affects molecular structure and properties, which are associated with the motion of protons and other light nuclei at low temperature. However, incorporation of the nuclear quantum effects into theoretical studies of large molecular systems is an outstanding challenge in theoretical chemistry. In this paper, the de Broglie-Bohm formulation of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation is used as a framework for the development of approximate quantum corrections to the dynamics of a trajectory ensemble, representing a time-dependent wave function. Specifically, the trajectory-centered local Least Square Fit (L-LSF) to the trajectory attributes is introduced, formally analyzed and illustrated on model potentials, typically used to benchmark approximate and semiclassical dynamics methods. The L-LSF method improves the dynamics accuracy, compared to the globally defined approximations, developed previously, and is shown to converge to the exact (generally impractical for large systems) limit of quantum dynamics.

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.9b00027

Related papers

Estimation Of The Quantum Effects Of Nuclei in Large Molecular Systems

Bing Gu

Chemical dynamics, in principle, should be understood by solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for a molecular system, describing motion of the nuclei and electrons. However, the computational efforts to solve this partial second-order differential equation scales exponentially with the system size, which prevents us from getting exact numerical solutions for systems larger than 4-5 atoms. Thus, approximations simplifying the picture are necessary. The so-called Born-Oppenheimer approximation, separating motion of the electrons and nuclei is the central one: solution to the electronic Schrödinger equation defines the potential energy surface on which the nuclear motion unfolds, and there are standard quantum chemistry software packages for solving the electronic Schrödinger equation. For the nuclear Schrödinger equation, however, there are no widely applicable quantum-mechanical approaches, and most simulations are performed using classical Newtonian mechanics which is often adequate due to large nuclear masses. However, the nuclear quantum effects are significant for chemical processes involving light nuclei at low energies, and including these effects into simulation, even approximately, is highly desirable. In this dissertation, an approximate methodology of including quantum-mechanical effects within the quantum trajectory or the de Broglie-Bohm formulation of the Schrödinger equations is developed. Use of the trajectory framework makes the approach scalable to hundreds of degrees of freedom. The methodology is applied to study high-dimensional systems (solid He4 and others) relevant to chemistry.

Jan 1, 20160 citations

Incorporation of quantum effects for selected degrees of freedom into the trajectory-based dynamics using spatial domains

Sophya V. Garashchuk, M. V. Volkov

The approach of defining quantum corrections on nuclear dynamics of molecular systems incorporated approximately into selected degrees of freedom, is described. The approach is based on the Madelung-de-Broglie-Bohm formulation of time-dependent quantum mechanics which represents a wavefunction in terms of an ensemble of trajectories. The trajectories follow classical laws of motion except that the quantum potential, dependent on the wavefunction amplitude and its derivatives, is added to the external, classical potential. In this framework the quantum potential, determined approximately for practical reasons, is included only into the "quantum" degrees of freedom describing light particles such as protons, while neglecting with the quantum force for the heavy, nearly classical nuclei. The entire system comprised of light and heavy particles is described by a single wavefunction of full dimensionality. The coordinate space of heavy particles is divided into spatial domains or subspaces. The quantum force acting on the light particles is determined for each domain of similar configurations of the heavy nuclei. This approach effectively introduces parametric dependence of the reduced dimensionality quantum force, on classical degrees of freedom. This strategy improves accuracy of the quantum force and does not restrict interaction between the domains. The concept is illustrated for two-dimensional scattering systems, where the quantum force is required to reproduce vibrational energy of the quantum degree of freedom.

The Journal of Chemical PhysicsAug 21, 201215 citations

Approximate quantum trajectory dynamics for reactive processes in condensed phase

Sophya V. Garashchuk, Jacek Jakowski, Vitaly A. Rassolov

A method of molecular dynamics with quantum corrections, practical for studies of large molecular systems, is reviewed. The approach is based on the Bohmian formulation of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation in which a wavefunction is represented by an ensemble of interdependent trajectories. The quantum effects come from the quantum potential acting on trajectories on par with the usual classical potential. The quantum potential is determined from the evolving nuclear wavefunction, i.e. from the quantum trajectory (QT) ensemble itself. For practical and conceptual reasons the quantum potential and corresponding quantum nuclear effect are computed only for the selected light nuclei. For studies of reactive chemical processes, the classical potential is computed on-the-fly using the density functional tight binding method of electronic structure. A massively parallel implementation, based on the message passing interface allows for efficient simulations of ensembles of thousands of trajectories describing systems of up to 200 atoms. As a biochemical application, the approximate QT approach is used to model the tunnelling-dominated proton transfer in soybean-lipoxygenase-1. A materials science application is represented by a study of the nuclear quantum effect on adsorption of hydrogen and deuterium on a C37H15 molecule, which is a model ‘flake’ of graphene.

Molecular SimulationApr 24, 20149 citations

Dynamics in the quantum/classical limit based on selective use of the quantum potential

Sophya V. Garashchuk, David Dell’Angelo, Vitaly A. Rassolov

A classical limit of quantum dynamics can be defined by compensation of the quantum potential in the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. The quantum potential is a non-local quantity, defined in the trajectory-based form of the Schrödinger equation, due to Madelung, de Broglie, and Bohm, which formally generates the quantum-mechanical features in dynamics. Selective inclusion of the quantum potential for the degrees of freedom deemed "quantum," defines a hybrid quantum/classical dynamics, appropriate for molecular systems comprised of light and heavy nuclei. The wavefunction is associated with all of the nuclei, and the Ehrenfest, or mean-field, averaging of the force acting on the classical degrees of freedom, typical of the mixed quantum/classical methods, is avoided. The hybrid approach is used to examine evolution of light/heavy systems in the harmonic and double-well potentials, using conventional grid-based and approximate quantum-trajectory time propagation. The approximate quantum force is defined on spatial domains, which removes unphysical coupling of the wavefunction fragments corresponding to distinct classical channels or configurations. The quantum potential, associated with the quantum particle, generates forces acting on both quantum and classical particles to describe the backreaction.

The Journal of Chemical PhysicsDec 16, 201411 citations

Energy conserving approximations to the quantum potential: Dynamics with linearized quantum force

Sophya V. Garashchuk, Vitaly A. Rassolov

Solution of the Schrodinger equation within the de Broglie-Bohm formulation is based on propagation of trajectories in the presence of a nonlocal quantum potential. We present a new strategy for defining approximate quantum potentials within a restricted trial function by performing the optimal fit to the log-derivatives of the wave function density. This procedure results in the energy-conserving dynamics for a closed system. For one particular form of the trial function leading to the linear quantum force, the optimization problem is solved analytically in terms of the first and second moments of the weighted trajectory distribution. This approach gives exact time-evolution of a correlated Gaussian wave function in a locally quadratic potential. The method is computationally cheap in many dimensions, conserves total energy and satisfies the criterion on the average quantum force. Expectation values are readily found by summing over trajectory weights. Efficient extraction of the phase-dependent quantities is discussed. We illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the linear quantum force approximation by examining a one-dimensional scattering problem and by computing the wavepacket reaction probability for the hydrogen exchange reaction and the photodissociation spectrum of ICN in two dimensions.

The Journal of Chemical PhysicsJan 9, 200483 citations

Bohmian dynamics on subspaces using linearized quantum force

Vitaly A. Rassolov, Sophya V. Garashchuk

In the de Broglie-Bohm formulation of quantum mechanics the time-dependent Schrodinger equation is solved in terms of quantum trajectories evolving under the influence of quantum and classical potentials. For a practical implementation that scales favorably with system size and is accurate for semiclassical systems, we use approximate quantum potentials. Recently, we have shown that optimization of the nonclassical component of the momentum operator in terms of fitting functions leads to the energy-conserving approximate quantum potential. In particular, linear fitting functions give the exact time evolution of a Gaussian wave packet in a locally quadratic potential and can describe the dominant quantum-mechanical effects in the semiclassical scattering problems of nuclear dynamics. In this paper we formulate the Bohmian dynamics on subspaces and define the energy-conserving approximate quantum potential in terms of optimized nonclassical momentum, extended to include the domain boundary functions. This generalization allows a better description of the non-Gaussian wave packets and general potentials in terms of simple fitting functions. The optimization is performed independently for each domain and each dimension. For linear fitting functions optimal parameters are expressed in terms of the first and second moments of the trajectory distribution. Examples are given for one-dimensional anharmonic systems and for the collinear hydrogen exchange reaction.

The Journal of Chemical PhysicsMar 29, 200449 citations