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Updated: Jan 4, 2026

Probing the Structure and Dynamics of Interfacial Water with Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy
Published on: May 27, 2018
Tunneling Splittings in Water Clusters from Path Integral Molecular Dynamics
C L Vaillant1, D J Wales2, S C Althorpe2
1Laboratory of Theoretical Physical Chemistry , Institut des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) , CH-1015 Lausanne , Switzerland.
Path integral molecular dynamics (PIMD) accurately calculates tunneling splittings in water clusters. This method validates the MB-Pol surface and PIMD accuracy for complex molecular systems.
Area of Science:
- * Quantum chemistry
- * Molecular dynamics
- * Spectroscopy
Background:
- * Tunneling splittings are crucial for understanding molecular dynamics in clusters.
- * Accurate theoretical methods are needed to compute these splittings.
Purpose of the Study:
- * To calculate tunneling splittings in small water clusters (dimer, trimer, hexamer).
- * To validate a new path integral molecular dynamics (PIMD) method and the MB-Pol potential energy surface.
Main Methods:
- * Application of a recently developed path integral molecular dynamics (PIMD) method.
- * Focus on ground-rotational-state tunneling motions in water clusters.
Main Results:
- * PIMD predictions show excellent agreement with benchmark quantum and experimental results.
- * Calculations validate both the MB-Pol surface and the accuracy of PIMD.
Conclusions:
- * PIMD is a reliable method for calculating tunneling splittings.
- * The favorable scaling of PIMD enables studies of larger, nonrigid molecular systems.
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