Adaptive colored-noise thermostats and piston barostats with exact NPT sampling

View at publisher
Authors: Francisco Gámez
Cited by: 2
References: 61

Abstract

We introduce two algorithmic components for molecular dynamics that combine rigorous ensemble preservation with practical adaptivity: (i) an adaptive generalized Langevin (AGLE) thermostat based on a low-rank Ornstein-Uhlenbeck embedding and (ii) a generalized Langevin piston barostat stabilized by sparse metropolized isothermal-isobaric volume moves. Both methods preserve the target equilibrium distribution by construction in linear settings, reduce correlation times without manual parameter tuning, and remain robust at finite timesteps. The AGLE selectively damps under-thermostatted spectral bands while maintaining exact fluctuation-dissipation balance. The barostat suppresses resonances of traditional Parrinello-Rahman schemes, adapts automatically to a target log-volume relaxation time, and, when combined with sparse Monte Carlo moves, guarantees exact sampling of the isothermal-isobaric ensemble. Validation requires only linear-algebraic tests: all moment identities, autocorrelation functions, and volume statistics can be obtained without running interacting trajectories. Both schemes are black-box, require minimal tuning, and guarantee ensemble exactness at a finite timestep. These developments provide flexible building blocks for large-scale molecular simulations, unifying colored-noise thermostats with modern barostatting strategies.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Protein Structure and Dynamics Block Copolymer Self-Assembly Model Reduction and Neural Networks

Publication details

Journal / source
The Journal of Chemical Physics
Publisher
AIP Publishing
Volume
164
Issue
3
Publication date
15 January 2026
Language
EN