A fast recursive algorithm for molecular dynamics simulation

The present recursive algorithm for solving molecular systems' dynamical equations of motion employs internal variable models that reduce such simulations' computation time by an order of magnitude, relative to Cartesian models. Extensive use is made of spatial operator methods recently developed for analysis and simulation of the dynamics of multibody systems. A factor-of-450 speedup over the conventional O(N-cubed) algorithm is demonstrated for the case of a polypeptide molecule with 400 residues.