On the temperature dependence of liquid structure

Abstract

We introduce a straightforward method for predicting an equilibrium distribution function over a wide range of temperatures from a single-temperature simulation. The approach is based on a simple application of fluctuation theory and requires only a standard equilibrium molecular dynamics (or Monte Carlo) simulation. In addition, it provides mechanistic insight into the origin of the temperature-dependent behavior. We illustrate the method by predicting the structure of liquid water, as represented by the O-O radial distribution function, for temperatures from 235 to 360 K from a room temperature molecular dynamics simulation.