Efficient Determination of Relative Entropy Using Combined Temperature and Hamiltonian Replica-Exchange Molecular Dynamics

The performance and accuracy of different simulation schemes for estimating the entropy inferred from free energy calculations are tested. The results obtained from replica-exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) simulations based on a simplified toy model are compared to exact numerically derived ones to assess accuracy and convergence. It is observed that the error in entropy estimation decreases by at least an order of magnitude and the quantities of interest converge much faster when the simulations are coupled via a temperature REMD algorithm and the trajectories from different temperatures are combined. Simulations with the infinite-swapping method and its variants show some improvement over the traditional nearest-neighbor REMD algorithms, but they are more computationally expensive. To test the methodologies further, the free energy profile for the reversible association of two methane molecules in explicit water was calculated and decomposed into its entropic and enthalpic contributions. Finally, a strategy based on umbrella sampling computations carried out via simultaneous temperature and Hamiltonian REMD simulations is shown to yield the most accurate entropy estimation. The entropy profile between the two methane molecules displays the characteristic signature of a hydrophobic interaction.