N‐dimensional switch function for energy conservation in multiprocess reaction dynamics

The MReaDy program was designed for studying Multiprocess Reactive Dynamic systems, that is, complex chemical systems involving different and concurrent reactions. It builds a global potential energy surface integrating a variety of potential energy surfaces, each one of them representing an elementary reaction expected to play a role in the chemical process. For each elementary reaction, energy continuity problems may happen in the transition between potential energy surfaces due to differences in the functional form for each of the fragments, especially if built by different authors. A N‐dimensional switch function is introduced in MReaDy in order to overcome such a problem. As an example, results of a collision trajectory calculation for H₂ + OH → H₃O are presented, showing smooth transition in the potential energy, leading to conservation in the total energy. Calculations for a hydrogen combustion system from 1000 K up to 4000 K shows a variation of 0.012% when compared to the total energy of the system. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.