Syntax:
temper N M temp fix-ID seed1 seed2 index
Examples:
temper 100000 100 $t tempfix 0 58728 temper 40000 100 $t tempfix 0 32285 $w
Description:
Run a parallel tempering (replica exchange) simulation of multiple ensembles of a system on multiple partitions of processors. The processor partitions are defined using the -partition command-line switch (see this section). Each ensemble's temperature is typically controlled at a different value by a fix with ID fix-ID that controls temperature. Possible fix styles are nvt, npt, and temp/rescale. The desired temperature is specified by temp, which is typically a variable previously set in the input script, so that each partition is assigned a different temperature. For example,
variable t proc 300.0 310.0 320.0 330.0
As the tempering simulation runs for N timesteps, a swap between adjacent ensembles will be attempted every M timesteps. If seed1 is 0, then the swap attempts will alternate between odd and even pairings. If seed1 is non-zero then it is used as a seed in a random number generator to randomly choose an odd or even pairing each time. Each attempted swap of temperatures is either accepted or rejected based on a Boltzmann-weighted Metropolis criterion which uses seed2 in the random number generator.
The last argument index is optional and is used when restarting a tempering run from a set of restart files (one for each replica) which had previously swapped to new temperatures. The index value (from 0 to N-1, where N is the # of replicas) identifies which temperature the replica was simulating on the timestep the restart files were written. Obviously, this argument must be a variable so that each partition has the correct value. Set the variable to the N values listed in the log file for the previous run for the replica temperatures at that timestep. For example if the log file listed
500000 2 4 0 1 3
then a setting of
variable w proc 2 4 0 1 3
would be used to restart the run with a tempering command like the example above with $w as the last argument.
Restrictions: none
Related commands:
Default: none