For classical Molecular Dynamics (cMD) simulations, the usual methodology is to use force fields (FFs) with fixed point charges (examples include CHARMM, AMBER and Gromos). However, this approach means that you are unable to capture the effect of local electrostatics (since fixed point charges cannot respond to the changes in the environment). There are multiple literature reports (including ours) which has shown that accurate capture of local electrostatic interactions are necessary for biological systems and surface interactions.
To include local electrostatics into the simulations, we have two methods:
- Use a polarizable FF description: This is the methodology that is followed in classical Drude polarizable FF description in CHARMM, where a massless Drude particle is attached to the heavy atom, and the polarizability is modified based on the vibration of the Drude particle). This approach leads to better capture of electrostatic interactions, even though the charges on the heavy atom and the Drude particle are not changing over time.
- The second approach is called charge equilibration (Qeq) where you start with a set of initial charges, and the charges on each atom are recomputed every nth step to account for the changes in the local environment. This approach is usually followed in the case of reactive FFs; but can in-principle be used in any case.
As far as my understanding goes, both Drude and Qeq comes with significant performance hits when compared with non-polarizable additive FFs. For Drude, this performance hits comes from the increase in the number of particles, while for Qeq, it is the recalculation of the charges that is expensive.
In the context of these, what are the advantages or disadvantages that one approach has over the other?