Computing the Frequency-Dependent NMR Relaxation of $^1$H Nuclei in Liquid Water

Abstract: It is the purpose of this paper to present a computational framework for reliably determining the frequency-dependent intermolecular and intramolecular NMR dipole-dipole relaxation rate of spin $1/2$ nuclei from MD simulations. The approach avoids alterations caused by well-known finite-size effects of the translational diffusion. Moreover, a procedure is derived to control and correct for effects caused by fixed distance-sampling cutoffs and periodic boundary conditions. By construction, this approach is capable of accurately predicting the correct low-frequency scaling behavior of the intermolecular NMR dipole-dipole relaxation rate and thus allows the reliable calculation of the frequency-dependent relaxation rate over many orders of magnitude. Our approach is based on the utilisation of the theory of Hwang and Freed for the intermolecular dipole-dipole correlation function and its corresponding spectral density [J. Chem. Phys. 63, 4017 (1975)] and its combination with data from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The deviations from the Hwang and Freed theory caused by periodic boundary conditions and sampling distance cutoffs are quantified by means of random walker Monte Carlo simulations. An expression based on the Hwang and Freed theoryis also suggested for correcting those effects. As a proof of principle, our approach is demonstrated by computing the frequency-dependent inter- and intramolecular dipolar NMR relaxation rate of the $^1$H nuclei in liquid water at $273\,\mbox{K}$ and $298\,\mbox{K}$ based on simulations of the TIP4P/2005 model. Our calculations are suggesting that the intermolecular contribution to the $^1$H NMR relaxation rate of the TIP4P/2005 model in the extreme narrowing limit has previously been substantially underestimated.