Simulation studies of liquid ammonia by classical ab initio, classical, and path-integral molecular dynamics

The structure of liquid ammonia at T=273 K has been studied using classical ab initio molecular dynamics, classical molecular dynamics, and the path-integral molecular dynamics methods. The three different types of calculation are employed to generate new insights into the ability of theoretical methods to model liquid ammonia effectively. Thus, the limitations of using classical nuclei, simple point charge models, small systems, and gradient corrected density functional theory are assessed through a comparison of the results of the different types of calculations to each other and recent experiments in a consistent manner. Briefly, the experimental intermolecular quantum structure is very well reproduced by the classical approximation while the intramolecular classical and quantum structures exhibit large deviations. The intermolecular ab initio partial radial structure factors of liquid ammonia and the associated radial distribution functions are in better agreement with experiment than the empirical models. However, the empirical models also perform reasonably well.