Sampling diffusive transition paths

Abstract

The authors address the problem of sampling double-ended diffusive paths. The ensemble of paths is expressed using a symmetric version of the Onsager-Machlup formula, which only requires evaluation of the force field and which, upon direct time discretization, gives rise to a symmetric integrator that is accurate to second order. Efficiently sampling this ensemble requires avoiding the well-known stiffness problem associated with the sampling of infinitesimal Brownian increments of the path, as well as a different type of stiffness associated with the sampling of the coarse features of long paths. The fine-feature sampling stiffness is eliminated with the use of the fast sampling algorithm, and the coarse-feature sampling stiffness is avoided by introducing the sliding and sampling (S&S) algorithm. A key feature of the S&S algorithm is that it enables massively parallel computers to sample diffusive trajectories that are long in time. The authors use the algorithm to sample the transition path ensemble for the structural interconversion of the 38-atom Lennard-Jones cluster at low temperature.