Extended Lagrangian quantum molecular dynamics simulations of shock-induced chemistry in hydrocarbons

A set of interatomic potentials for hydrocarbons that are based upon the self-consistent charge transfer tight-binding approximation to density functional theory have been developed and implemented into the quantum molecular dynamics code ''LATTE''. The interatomic potentials exhibit an outstanding level of transferability and have been applied in molecular dynamics simulations of tert-butylacetylene under thermodynamic conditions that correspond to its single-shock Hugoniot. We have achieved precise conservation of the total energy during microcanonical molecular dynamics trajectories under incomplete convergence via the extended Lagrangian Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics formalism. In good agreement with the results of a series of flyer-plate impact experiments, our SCC-TB molecular dynamics simulations show that tert-butylactylene molecules polymerize at shock pressures around 6.1 GPa.