On the quantum mechanical potential of mean force. I. A path integral perspective

Abstract: We derive two path integral estimators for the derivative of the quantum mechanical potential of mean force (PMF), which may be numerically integrated to yield the PMF. For the first estimator, we perform the differentiation on the exact path integral, and for the second, we perform the differentiation on the path integral after discretization. These estimators are successfully validated against reference results for the harmonic oscillator and Lennard-Jones dimer systems using constrained path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) simulations. Specifically, the estimators reproduce both the derivative of the PMF, as well as the PMF itself, for the model systems at multiple temperatures. In Paper II, these estimators are implemented alongside path integral molecular dynamics (PIMD) with a constrained path integral Langevin equation thermostat for use with more general systems and potentials.