Algorithms for non-Hamiltonian dynamics

Abstract

Statistical averages in a variety of many-body problems can be efficiently calculated through deterministic dynamics. When thermodynamical constraints (such as constant-temperature and/or constant-pressure) must be enforced, energy-conserving non-Hamiltonian dynamics becomes the method of choice. Integration of the resulting associated equations of motion requires advanced algorithms. For a number of cases, we show in detail  how to derive both time-reversible algorithms and time-reversible measure-preserving integration methods.