title: Accurate acceleration of kinetic Monte Carlo simulations through the modification of rate constants.
abstract: We present a novel computational algorithm called the accelerated superbasin kinetic Monte Carlo (AS-KMC) method that enables a more efficient study of rare-event dynamics than the standard KMC method while maintaining control over the error. In AS-KMC, the rate constants for processes that are observed many times are lowered during the course of a simulation. As a result, rare processes are observed more frequently than in KMC and the time progresses faster. We first derive error estimates for AS-KMC when the rate constants are modified. These error estimates are next employed to develop a procedure for lowering process rates with control over the maximum error. Finally, numerical calculations are performed to demonstrate that the AS-KMC method captures the correct dynamics, while providing significant CPU savings over KMC in most cases. We show that the AS-KMC method can be employed with any KMC model, even when no time scale separation is present (although in such cases no computational speed-up is observed), without requiring the knowledge of various time scales present in the system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur 208016 India. achatter@iitk.ac.in
authors.forename: Abhijit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chatterjee
authors.forename: Arthur F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Voter
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003198:Computer Simulation; D007700:Kinetics; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D009010:Monte Carlo Method