OpenMM
NonbondedForce Class Reference

This class implements nonbonded interactions between particles, including a Coulomb force to represent electrostatics and a Lennard-Jones force to represent van der Waals interactions. More...

+ Inheritance diagram for NonbondedForce:

List of all members.

Public Member Functions

def getNumParticles
 getNumParticles(self) -> int
def getNumExceptions
 getNumExceptions(self) -> int
def getNonbondedMethod
 getNonbondedMethod(self) -> OpenMM::NonbondedForce::NonbondedMethod
def setNonbondedMethod
 Set the method used for handling long range nonbonded interactions.
def getCutoffDistance
 getCutoffDistance(self) -> double
def setCutoffDistance
 Set the cutoff distance (in nm) being used for nonbonded interactions.
def getUseSwitchingFunction
 getUseSwitchingFunction(self) -> bool
def setUseSwitchingFunction
 Set whether a switching function is applied to the Lennard-Jones interaction.
def getSwitchingDistance
 getSwitchingDistance(self) -> double
def setSwitchingDistance
 Set the distance at which the switching function begins to reduce the Lennard-Jones interaction.
def getReactionFieldDielectric
 getReactionFieldDielectric(self) -> double
def setReactionFieldDielectric
 Set the dielectric constant to use for the solvent in the reaction field approximation.
def getEwaldErrorTolerance
 getEwaldErrorTolerance(self) -> double
def setEwaldErrorTolerance
 Set the error tolerance for Ewald summation.
def getPMEParameters
 Get the parameters to use for PME calculations.
def setPMEParameters
 Set the parameters to use for PME calculations.
def getPMEParametersInContext
 Get the parameters being used for PME in a particular Context.
def addParticle
 addParticle(self, charge, sigma, epsilon) -> int
def getParticleParameters
 Get the nonbonded force parameters for a particle.
def setParticleParameters
 Set the nonbonded force parameters for a particle.
def addException
 addException(self, particle1, particle2, chargeProd, sigma, epsilon, replace=False) -> int addException(self, particle1, particle2, chargeProd, sigma, epsilon) -> int
def getExceptionParameters
 Get the force field parameters for an interaction that should be calculated differently from others.
def setExceptionParameters
 Set the force field parameters for an interaction that should be calculated differently from others.
def createExceptionsFromBonds
 Identify exceptions based on the molecular topology.
def getUseDispersionCorrection
 getUseDispersionCorrection(self) -> bool
def setUseDispersionCorrection
 Set whether to add a contribution to the energy that approximately represents the effect of Lennard-Jones interactions beyond the cutoff distance.
def getReciprocalSpaceForceGroup
 getReciprocalSpaceForceGroup(self) -> int
def setReciprocalSpaceForceGroup
 Set the force group that reciprocal space interactions for Ewald or PME are included in.
def updateParametersInContext
 Update the particle and exception parameters in a Context to match those stored in this Force object.
def usesPeriodicBoundaryConditions
 usesPeriodicBoundaryConditions(self) -> bool
def addParticle_usingRVdw
 Add particle using elemetrary charge.
def addException_usingRMin
 Add interaction exception using the product of the two atoms' elementary charges, rMin and epsilon, which is standard for AMBER force fields.
def __init__
 __init__(self) -> NonbondedForce __init__(self, other) -> NonbondedForce

Public Attributes

 this

Static Public Attributes

 NoCutoff = _openmm.NonbondedForce_NoCutoff
 CutoffNonPeriodic = _openmm.NonbondedForce_CutoffNonPeriodic
 CutoffPeriodic = _openmm.NonbondedForce_CutoffPeriodic
 Ewald = _openmm.NonbondedForce_Ewald
 PME = _openmm.NonbondedForce_PME

Detailed Description

This class implements nonbonded interactions between particles, including a Coulomb force to represent electrostatics and a Lennard-Jones force to represent van der Waals interactions.

It optionally supports periodic boundary conditions and cutoffs for long range interactions. Lennard-Jones interactions are calculated with the Lorentz-Berthelot combining rule: it uses the arithmetic mean of the sigmas and the geometric mean of the epsilons for the two interacting particles.

To use this class, create a NonbondedForce object, then call addParticle() once for each particle in the System to define its parameters. The number of particles for which you define nonbonded parameters must be exactly equal to the number of particles in the System, or else an exception will be thrown when you try to create a Context. After a particle has been added, you can modify its force field parameters by calling setParticleParameters(). This will have no effect on Contexts that already exist unless you call updateParametersInContext().

NonbondedForce also lets you specify "exceptions", particular pairs of particles whose interactions should be computed based on different parameters than those defined for the individual particles. This can be used to completely exclude certain interactions from the force calculation, or to alter how they interact with each other.

Many molecular force fields omit Coulomb and Lennard-Jones interactions between particles separated by one or two bonds, while using modified parameters for those separated by three bonds (known as "1-4 interactions"). This class provides a convenience method for this case called createExceptionsFromBonds(). You pass to it a list of bonds and the scale factors to use for 1-4 interactions. It identifies all pairs of particles which are separated by 1, 2, or 3 bonds, then automatically creates exceptions for them.

When using a cutoff, by default Lennard-Jones interactions are sharply truncated at the cutoff distance. Optionally you can instead use a switching function to make the interaction smoothly go to zero over a finite distance range. To enable this, call setUseSwitchingFunction(). You must also call setSwitchingDistance() to specify the distance at which the interaction should begin to decrease. The switching distance must be less than the cutoff distance.

Another optional feature of this class (enabled by default) is to add a contribution to the energy which approximates the effect of all Lennard-Jones interactions beyond the cutoff in a periodic system. When running a simulation at constant pressure, this can improve the quality of the result. Call setUseDispersionCorrection() to set whether this should be used.


Constructor & Destructor Documentation

def __init__ (   self,
  args 
)

__init__(self) -> NonbondedForce __init__(self, other) -> NonbondedForce

Create a NonbondedForce.


Member Function Documentation

def addException (   self,
  particle1,
  particle2,
  chargeProd,
  sigma,
  epsilon,
  replace = False 
)

addException(self, particle1, particle2, chargeProd, sigma, epsilon, replace=False) -> int addException(self, particle1, particle2, chargeProd, sigma, epsilon) -> int

Add an interaction to the list of exceptions that should be calculated differently from other interactions. If chargeProd and epsilon are both equal to 0, this will cause the interaction to be completely omitted from force and energy calculations.

In many cases, you can use createExceptionsFromBonds() rather than adding each exception explicitly.

Parameters:
particle1(int) the index of the first particle involved in the interaction
particle2(int) the index of the second particle involved in the interaction
chargeProd(double) the scaled product of the atomic charges (i.e. the strength of the Coulomb interaction), measured in units of the proton charge squared
sigma(double) the sigma parameter of the Lennard-Jones potential (corresponding to the van der Waals radius of the particle), measured in nm
epsilon(double) the epsilon parameter of the Lennard-Jones potential (corresponding to the well depth of the van der Waals interaction), measured in kJ/mol
replace(bool) determines the behavior if there is already an exception for the same two particles. If true, the existing one is replaced. If false, an exception is thrown.
Returns:
(int) the index of the exception that was added
def addException_usingRMin (   self,
  particle1,
  particle2,
  chargeProd,
  rMin,
  epsilon 
)

Add interaction exception using the product of the two atoms' elementary charges, rMin and epsilon, which is standard for AMBER force fields.

Note that rMin is the minimum energy point in the Lennard Jones potential. The conversion from sigma is: rMin = 2^1/6 * sigma.

def addParticle (   self,
  charge,
  sigma,
  epsilon 
)

addParticle(self, charge, sigma, epsilon) -> int

Add the nonbonded force parameters for a particle. This should be called once for each particle in the System. When it is called for the i'th time, it specifies the parameters for the i'th particle. For calculating the Lennard-Jones interaction between two particles, the arithmetic mean of the sigmas and the geometric mean of the epsilons for the two interacting particles is used (the Lorentz-Berthelot combining rule).

Parameters:
charge(double) the charge of the particle, measured in units of the proton charge
sigma(double) the sigma parameter of the Lennard-Jones potential (corresponding to the van der Waals radius of the particle), measured in nm
epsilon(double) the epsilon parameter of the Lennard-Jones potential (corresponding to the well depth of the van der Waals interaction), measured in kJ/mol
Returns:
(int) the index of the particle that was added
def addParticle_usingRVdw (   self,
  charge,
  rVDW,
  epsilon 
)

Add particle using elemetrary charge.

Rvdw and epsilon, which is consistent with AMBER parameter file usage. Note that the sum of the radii of the two interacting atoms is the minimum energy point in the Lennard Jones potential and is often called rMin. The conversion from sigma follows: rVDW = 2^1/6 * sigma/2

def createExceptionsFromBonds (   self,
  bonds,
  coulomb14Scale,
  lj14Scale 
)

Identify exceptions based on the molecular topology.

Particles which are separated by one or two bonds are set to not interact at all, while pairs of particles separated by three bonds (known as "1-4 interactions") have their Coulomb and Lennard-Jones interactions reduced by a fixed factor.

Parameters:
bonds(vector< std::pair< int, int > >) the set of bonds based on which to construct exceptions. Each element specifies the indices of two particles that are bonded to each other.
coulomb14Scale(double) pairs of particles separated by three bonds will have the strength of their Coulomb interaction multiplied by this factor
lj14Scale(double) pairs of particles separated by three bonds will have the strength of their Lennard-Jones interaction multiplied by this factor
def getCutoffDistance (   self)

getCutoffDistance(self) -> double

Get the cutoff distance (in nm) being used for nonbonded interactions. If the NonbondedMethod in use is NoCutoff, this value will have no effect.

Returns:
(double) the cutoff distance, measured in nm
def getEwaldErrorTolerance (   self)

getEwaldErrorTolerance(self) -> double

Get the error tolerance for Ewald summation. This corresponds to the fractional error in the forces which is acceptable. This value is used to select the reciprocal space cutoff and separation parameter so that the average error level will be less than the tolerance. There is not a rigorous guarantee that all forces on all atoms will be less than the tolerance, however.

For PME calculations, if setPMEParameters() is used to set alpha to something other than 0, this value is ignored.

def getExceptionParameters (   self,
  index 
)

Get the force field parameters for an interaction that should be calculated differently from others.

Parameters:
index(int) the index of the interaction for which to get parameters
Returns:
(int) the index of the first particle involved in the interaction
(int) the index of the second particle involved in the interaction
(double) the scaled product of the atomic charges (i.e. the strength of the Coulomb interaction), measured in units of the proton charge squared
(double) the sigma parameter of the Lennard-Jones potential (corresponding to the van der Waals radius of the particle), measured in nm
(double) the epsilon parameter of the Lennard-Jones potential (corresponding to the well depth of the van der Waals interaction), measured in kJ/mol
def getNonbondedMethod (   self)

getNonbondedMethod(self) -> OpenMM::NonbondedForce::NonbondedMethod

Get the method used for handling long range nonbonded interactions.

def getNumExceptions (   self)

getNumExceptions(self) -> int

Get the number of special interactions that should be calculated differently from other interactions.

def getNumParticles (   self)

getNumParticles(self) -> int

Get the number of particles for which force field parameters have been defined.

def getParticleParameters (   self,
  index 
)

Get the nonbonded force parameters for a particle.

Parameters:
index(int) the index of the particle for which to get parameters
Returns:
(double) the charge of the particle, measured in units of the proton charge
(double) the sigma parameter of the Lennard-Jones potential (corresponding to the van der Waals radius of the particle), measured in nm
(double) the epsilon parameter of the Lennard-Jones potential (corresponding to the well depth of the van der Waals interaction), measured in kJ/mol
def getPMEParameters (   self)

Get the parameters to use for PME calculations.

If alpha is 0 (the default), these parameters are ignored and instead their values are chosen based on the Ewald error tolerance.

Returns:
(double) the separation parameter
(int) the number of grid points along the X axis
(int) the number of grid points along the Y axis
(int) the number of grid points along the Z axis
def getPMEParametersInContext (   self,
  context 
)

Get the parameters being used for PME in a particular Context.

Because some platforms have restrictions on the allowed grid sizes, the values that are actually used may be slightly different from those specified with setPMEParameters(), or the standard values calculated based on the Ewald error tolerance. See the manual for details.

Parameters:
context(Context) the Context for which to get the parameters
Returns:
(double) the separation parameter
(int) the number of grid points along the X axis
(int) the number of grid points along the Y axis
(int) the number of grid points along the Z axis

getReactionFieldDielectric(self) -> double

Get the dielectric constant to use for the solvent in the reaction field approximation.

getReciprocalSpaceForceGroup(self) -> int

Get the force group that reciprocal space interactions for Ewald or PME are included in. This allows multiple time step integrators to evaluate direct and reciprocal space interactions at different intervals: getForceGroup() specifies the group for direct space, and getReciprocalSpaceForceGroup() specifies the group for reciprocal space. If this is -1 (the default value), the same force group is used for reciprocal space as for direct space.

def getSwitchingDistance (   self)

getSwitchingDistance(self) -> double

Get the distance at which the switching function begins to reduce the Lennard-Jones interaction. This must be less than the cutoff distance.

getUseDispersionCorrection(self) -> bool

Get whether to add a contribution to the energy that approximately represents the effect of Lennard-Jones interactions beyond the cutoff distance. The energy depends on the volume of the periodic box, and is only applicable when periodic boundary conditions are used. When running simulations at constant pressure, adding this contribution can improve the quality of results.

def getUseSwitchingFunction (   self)

getUseSwitchingFunction(self) -> bool

Get whether a switching function is applied to the Lennard-Jones interaction. If the nonbonded method is set to NoCutoff, this option is ignored.

def setCutoffDistance (   self,
  distance 
)

Set the cutoff distance (in nm) being used for nonbonded interactions.

If the NonbondedMethod in use is NoCutoff, this value will have no effect.

Parameters:
distance(double) the cutoff distance, measured in nm
def setEwaldErrorTolerance (   self,
  tol 
)

Set the error tolerance for Ewald summation.

This corresponds to the fractional error in the forces which is acceptable. This value is used to select the reciprocal space cutoff and separation parameter so that the average error level will be less than the tolerance. There is not a rigorous guarantee that all forces on all atoms will be less than the tolerance, however.

For PME calculations, if setPMEParameters() is used to set alpha to something other than 0, this value is ignored.

def setExceptionParameters (   self,
  index,
  particle1,
  particle2,
  chargeProd,
  sigma,
  epsilon 
)

Set the force field parameters for an interaction that should be calculated differently from others.

If chargeProd and epsilon are both equal to 0, this will cause the interaction to be completely omitted from force and energy calculations.

Parameters:
index(int) the index of the interaction for which to get parameters
particle1(int) the index of the first particle involved in the interaction
particle2(int) the index of the second particle involved in the interaction
chargeProd(double) the scaled product of the atomic charges (i.e. the strength of the Coulomb interaction), measured in units of the proton charge squared
sigma(double) the sigma parameter of the Lennard-Jones potential (corresponding to the van der Waals radius of the particle), measured in nm
epsilon(double) the epsilon parameter of the Lennard-Jones potential (corresponding to the well depth of the van der Waals interaction), measured in kJ/mol
def setNonbondedMethod (   self,
  method 
)

Set the method used for handling long range nonbonded interactions.

def setParticleParameters (   self,
  index,
  charge,
  sigma,
  epsilon 
)

Set the nonbonded force parameters for a particle.

When calculating the Lennard-Jones interaction between two particles, it uses the arithmetic mean of the sigmas and the geometric mean of the epsilons for the two interacting particles (the Lorentz-Berthelot combining rule).

Parameters:
index(int) the index of the particle for which to set parameters
charge(double) the charge of the particle, measured in units of the proton charge
sigma(double) the sigma parameter of the Lennard-Jones potential (corresponding to the van der Waals radius of the particle), measured in nm
epsilon(double) the epsilon parameter of the Lennard-Jones potential (corresponding to the well depth of the van der Waals interaction), measured in kJ/mol
def setPMEParameters (   self,
  alpha,
  nx,
  ny,
  nz 
)

Set the parameters to use for PME calculations.

If alpha is 0 (the default), these parameters are ignored and instead their values are chosen based on the Ewald error tolerance.

Parameters:
alpha(double) the separation parameter
nx(int) the number of grid points along the X axis
ny(int) the number of grid points along the Y axis
nz(int) the number of grid points along the Z axis
def setReactionFieldDielectric (   self,
  dielectric 
)

Set the dielectric constant to use for the solvent in the reaction field approximation.

def setReciprocalSpaceForceGroup (   self,
  group 
)

Set the force group that reciprocal space interactions for Ewald or PME are included in.

This allows multiple time step integrators to evaluate direct and reciprocal space interactions at different intervals: setForceGroup() specifies the group for direct space, and setReciprocalSpaceForceGroup() specifies the group for reciprocal space. If this is -1 (the default value), the same force group is used for reciprocal space as for direct space.

Parameters:
group(int) the group index. Legal values are between 0 and 31 (inclusive), or -1 to use the same force group that is specified for direct space.
def setSwitchingDistance (   self,
  distance 
)

Set the distance at which the switching function begins to reduce the Lennard-Jones interaction.

This must be less than the cutoff distance.

def setUseDispersionCorrection (   self,
  useCorrection 
)

Set whether to add a contribution to the energy that approximately represents the effect of Lennard-Jones interactions beyond the cutoff distance.

The energy depends on the volume of the periodic box, and is only applicable when periodic boundary conditions are used. When running simulations at constant pressure, adding this contribution can improve the quality of results.

def setUseSwitchingFunction (   self,
  use 
)

Set whether a switching function is applied to the Lennard-Jones interaction.

If the nonbonded method is set to NoCutoff, this option is ignored.

def updateParametersInContext (   self,
  context 
)

Update the particle and exception parameters in a Context to match those stored in this Force object.

This method provides an efficient method to update certain parameters in an existing Context without needing to reinitialize it. Simply call setParticleParameters() and setExceptionParameters() to modify this object's parameters, then call updateParametersInContext() to copy them over to the Context.

This method has several limitations. The only information it updates is the parameters of particles and exceptions. All other aspects of the Force (the nonbonded method, the cutoff distance, etc.) are unaffected and can only be changed by reinitializing the Context. Furthermore, only the chargeProd, sigma, and epsilon values of an exception can be changed; the pair of particles involved in the exception cannot change. Finally, this method cannot be used to add new particles or exceptions, only to change the parameters of existing ones.

usesPeriodicBoundaryConditions(self) -> bool

Returns whether or not this force makes use of periodic boundary conditions.

Returns:
(bool) true if force uses PBC and false otherwise

Reimplemented from Force.


Member Data Documentation

CutoffNonPeriodic = _openmm.NonbondedForce_CutoffNonPeriodic [static]
CutoffPeriodic = _openmm.NonbondedForce_CutoffPeriodic [static]
Ewald = _openmm.NonbondedForce_Ewald [static]
NoCutoff = _openmm.NonbondedForce_NoCutoff [static]
PME = _openmm.NonbondedForce_PME [static]

Reimplemented from Force.


The documentation for this class was generated from the following file:
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