# CustomCentroidBondForce¶

class OpenMM::CustomCentroidBondForce

This class is similar to CustomCompoundBondForce, but instead of applying forces between individual particles, it applies them between the centers of groups of particles. This is useful for a variety of purposes, such as restraints to keep two molecules from moving too far apart.

When using this class, you define groups of particles, and the center of each group is calculated as a weighted average of the particle positions. By default, the particle masses are used as weights, so the center position is the center of mass. You can optionally specify different weights to use. You then add bonds just as with CustomCompoundBondForce, but instead of specifying the particles that make up a bond, you specify the groups.

When creating a CustomCentroidBondForce, you specify the number of groups involved in a bond, and an expression for the energy of each bond. It may depend on the center positions of individual groups, the distances between the centers of pairs of groups, the angles formed by sets of three groups, and the dihedral angles formed by sets of four groups.

We refer to the groups in a bond as g1, g2, g3, etc. For each bond, CustomCentroidBondForce evaluates a user supplied algebraic expression to determine the interaction energy. The expression may depend on the following variables and functions:

• x1, y1, z1, x2, y2, z2, etc.: The x, y, and z coordinates of the centers of the groups. For example, x1 is the x coordinate of the center of group g1, and y3 is the y coordinate of the center of group g3.
• distance(g1, g2): the distance between the centers of groups g1 and g2 (where “g1” and “g2” may be replaced by the names of whichever groups you want to calculate the distance between).
• angle(g1, g2, g3): the angle formed by the centers of the three specified groups.
• dihedral(g1, g2, g3, g4): the dihedral angle formed by the centers of the four specified groups.

The expression also may involve tabulated functions, and may depend on arbitrary global and per-bond parameters.

To use this class, create a CustomCentroidBondForce object, passing an algebraic expression to the constructor that defines the interaction energy of each bond. Then call addPerBondParameter() to define per-bond parameters and addGlobalParameter() to define global parameters. The values of per-bond parameters are specified as part of the system definition, while values of global parameters may be modified during a simulation by calling Context::setParameter().

Next call addGroup() to define the particle groups. Each group is specified by the particles it contains, and the weights to use when computing the center position.

Then call addBond() to define bonds and specify their parameter values. After a bond has been added, you can modify its parameters by calling setBondParameters(). This will have no effect on Contexts that already exist unless you call updateParametersInContext().

As an example, the following code creates a CustomCentroidBondForce that implements a harmonic force between the centers of mass of two groups of particles.

CustomCentroidBondForce* force = new CustomCentroidBondForce(2, "0.5*k*distance(g1,g2)^2");
vector<int> bondGroups;
bondGroups.push_back(0);
bondGroups.push_back(1);
vector<double> bondParameters;
bondParameters.push_back(k);


This class also has the ability to compute derivatives of the potential energy with respect to global parameters. Call addEnergyParameterDerivative() to request that the derivative with respect to a particular parameter be computed. You can then query its value in a Context by calling getState() on it.

Expressions may involve the operators + (add), - (subtract), * (multiply), / (divide), and ^ (power), and the following functions: sqrt, exp, log, sin, cos, sec, csc, tan, cot, asin, acos, atan, sinh, cosh, tanh, erf, erfc, min, max, abs, floor, ceil, step, delta, select. All trigonometric functions are defined in radians, and log is the natural logarithm. step(x) = 0 if x is less than 0, 1 otherwise. delta(x) = 1 if x is 0, 0 otherwise. select(x,y,z) = z if x = 0, y otherwise.

In addition, you can call addTabulatedFunction() to define a new function based on tabulated values. You specify the function by creating a TabulatedFunction object. That function can then appear in the expression.

Methods

 CustomCentroidBondForce Create a CustomCentroidBondForce. ~CustomCentroidBondForce getNumGroupsPerBond Get the number of groups used to define each bond. getNumGroups Get the number of particle groups that have been defined. getNumBonds Get the number of bonds for which force field parameters have been defined. getNumPerBondParameters Get the number of per-bond parameters that the interaction depends on. getNumGlobalParameters Get the number of global parameters that the interaction depends on. getNumEnergyParameterDerivatives Get the number of global parameters with respect to which the derivative of the energy should be computed. getNumTabulatedFunctions Get the number of tabulated functions that have been defined. getNumFunctions Get the number of tabulated functions that have been defined. getEnergyFunction Get the algebraic expression that gives the interaction energy of each bond setEnergyFunction Set the algebraic expression that gives the interaction energy of each bond addPerBondParameter Add a new per-bond parameter that the interaction may depend on. getPerBondParameterName Get the name of a per-bond parameter. setPerBondParameterName Set the name of a per-bond parameter. addGlobalParameter Add a new global parameter that the interaction may depend on. getGlobalParameterName Get the name of a global parameter. setGlobalParameterName Set the name of a global parameter. getGlobalParameterDefaultValue Get the default value of a global parameter. setGlobalParameterDefaultValue Set the default value of a global parameter. addEnergyParameterDerivative Request that this Force compute the derivative of its energy with respect to a global parameter. getEnergyParameterDerivativeName Get the name of a global parameter with respect to which this Force should compute the derivative of the energy. addGroup Add a particle group. getGroupParameters Get the properties of a group. setGroupParameters Set the properties of a group. addBond Add a bond to the force getBondParameters Get the properties of a bond. setBondParameters Set the properties of a bond. addTabulatedFunction Add a tabulated function that may appear in the energy expression. getTabulatedFunction Get a const reference to a tabulated function that may appear in the energy expression. getTabulatedFunction Get a reference to a tabulated function that may appear in the energy expression. getTabulatedFunctionName Get the name of a tabulated function that may appear in the energy expression. updateParametersInContext Update the per-bond parameters in a Context to match those stored in this Force object. setUsesPeriodicBoundaryConditions Set whether this force should apply periodic boundary conditions when calculating displacements. usesPeriodicBoundaryConditions Returns whether or not this force makes use of periodic boundary conditions.
CustomCentroidBondForce(int numGroups, const std::string &energy)

Create a CustomCentroidBondForce().

• numGroups – the number of groups used to define each bond
• energy – an algebraic expression giving the interaction energy of each bond as a function of particle positions, inter-particle distances, angles, and dihedrals, and any global and per-bond parameters
~CustomCentroidBondForce()
int getNumGroupsPerBond() const

Get the number of groups used to define each bond.

int getNumGroups() const

Get the number of particle groups that have been defined.

int getNumBonds() const

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

int getNumPerBondParameters() const

Get the number of per-bond parameters that the interaction depends on.

int getNumGlobalParameters() const

Get the number of global parameters that the interaction depends on.

int getNumEnergyParameterDerivatives() const

Get the number of global parameters with respect to which the derivative of the energy should be computed.

int getNumTabulatedFunctions() const

Get the number of tabulated functions that have been defined.

int getNumFunctions() const

Get the number of tabulated functions that have been defined.

Deprecated

This method exists only for backward compatibility. Use getNumTabulatedFunctions() instead.

const std::string &getEnergyFunction() const

Get the algebraic expression that gives the interaction energy of each bond

void setEnergyFunction(const std::string &energy)

Set the algebraic expression that gives the interaction energy of each bond

int addPerBondParameter(const std::string &name)

Add a new per-bond parameter that the interaction may depend on.

• name – the name of the parameter
Returns: the index of the parameter that was added
const std::string &getPerBondParameterName(int index) const

Get the name of a per-bond parameter.

• index – the index of the parameter for which to get the name
Returns: the parameter name
void setPerBondParameterName(int index, const std::string &name)

Set the name of a per-bond parameter.

• index – the index of the parameter for which to set the name
• name – the name of the parameter
int addGlobalParameter(const std::string &name, double defaultValue)

Add a new global parameter that the interaction may depend on. The default value provided to this method is the initial value of the parameter in newly created Contexts. You can change the value at any time by calling setParameter() on the Context.

• name – the name of the parameter
• defaultValue – the default value of the parameter
Returns: the index of the parameter that was added
const std::string &getGlobalParameterName(int index) const

Get the name of a global parameter.

• index – the index of the parameter for which to get the name
Returns: the parameter name
void setGlobalParameterName(int index, const std::string &name)

Set the name of a global parameter.

• index – the index of the parameter for which to set the name
• name – the name of the parameter
double getGlobalParameterDefaultValue(int index) const

Get the default value of a global parameter.

• index – the index of the parameter for which to get the default value
Returns: the parameter default value
void setGlobalParameterDefaultValue(int index, double defaultValue)

Set the default value of a global parameter.

• index – the index of the parameter for which to set the default value
• defaultValue – the default value of the parameter
void addEnergyParameterDerivative(const std::string &name)

Request that this Force compute the derivative of its energy with respect to a global parameter. The parameter must have already been added with addGlobalParameter().

• name – the name of the parameter
const std::string &getEnergyParameterDerivativeName(int index) const

Get the name of a global parameter with respect to which this Force should compute the derivative of the energy.

Returns: the parameter name
int addGroup(const std::vector<int> &particles, const std::vector<double> &weights = std::vector< double >())

• particles – the indices of the particles to include in the group
• weights – the weight to use for each particle when computing the center position. If this is omitted, then particle masses will be used as weights.
Returns: the index of the group that was added
void getGroupParameters(int index, std::vector<int> &particles, std::vector<double> &weights) const

Get the properties of a group.

• index – the index of the group to get
• particles – [out] the indices of the particles in the group
• weights – [out] the weight used for each particle when computing the center position. If no weights were specified, this vector will be empty indicating that particle masses should be used as weights.
void setGroupParameters(int index, const std::vector<int> &particles, const std::vector<double> &weights = std::vector< double >())

Set the properties of a group.

• index – the index of the group to set
• particles – the indices of the particles in the group
• weights – the weight to use for each particle when computing the center position. If this is omitted, then particle masses will be used as weights.
int addBond(const std::vector<int> &groups, const std::vector<double> &parameters = std::vector< double >())

Add a bond to the force

• groups – the indices of the groups the bond depends on
• parameters – the list of per-bond parameter values for the new bond
Returns: the index of the bond that was added
void getBondParameters(int index, std::vector<int> &groups, std::vector<double> &parameters) const

Get the properties of a bond.

• index – the index of the bond to get
• groups – [out] the indices of the groups in the bond
• parameters – [out] the list of per-bond parameter values for the bond
void setBondParameters(int index, const std::vector<int> &groups, const std::vector<double> &parameters = std::vector< double >())

Set the properties of a bond.

• index – the index of the bond to set
• groups – the indices of the groups in the bond
• parameters – the list of per-bond parameter values for the bond
int addTabulatedFunction(const std::string &name, TabulatedFunction *function)

Add a tabulated function that may appear in the energy expression.

Returns: the index of the function that was added
const TabulatedFunction &getTabulatedFunction(int index) const

Get a const reference to a tabulated function that may appear in the energy expression.

• index – the index of the function to get
Returns: the TabulatedFunction object defining the function
TabulatedFunction &getTabulatedFunction(int index)

Get a reference to a tabulated function that may appear in the energy expression.

• index – the index of the function to get
Returns: the TabulatedFunction object defining the function
const std::string &getTabulatedFunctionName(int index) const

Get the name of a tabulated function that may appear in the energy expression.

• index – the index of the function to get
Returns: the name of the function as it appears in expressions
void updateParametersInContext(Context &context)

Update the per-bond 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 setBondParameters() 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 values of per-bond parameters. All other aspects of the Force (such as the energy function) are unaffected and can only be changed by reinitializing the Context. Neither the definitions of groups nor the set of groups involved in a bond can be changed, nor can new bonds be added.

void setUsesPeriodicBoundaryConditions(bool periodic)

Set whether this force should apply periodic boundary conditions when calculating displacements. Usually this is not appropriate for bonded forces, but there are situations when it can be useful.

bool usesPeriodicBoundaryConditions() const

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

Returns: true if force uses PBC and false otherwise