Quantum effects of hydrogen atoms on the dynamical rearrangement of hydrogen-bond networks in liquid water

Abstract

Quantum effects such as zero-point energy and delocalization of wave packets (WPs) representing water hydrogen atoms are essential to understand anomalous energetics and dynamics in water. Since quantum calculations of many-body dynamics are highly complicated, no one has yet directly viewed the quantum WP dynamics of hydrogen atoms in liquid water. Our semiquantum molecular dynamics simulation made it possible to observe the hydrogen WP dynamics in liquid water. We demonstrate that the microscopic WP dynamics are closely correlated with and actually play key roles in the dynamical rearrangement in the hydrogen-bond network (HBN) of bulk water. We found the quantum effects of hydrogen atoms on liquid water dynamics such as the rearrangement of HBN and the concomitant fluctuation and relaxation. Our results provide new physical insights on HBN dynamics in water whose significance is not limited to pure liquid dynamics but also a greater understanding of chemical and biological reactions in liquid water.