Using atomic charges to model molecular polarization

We review different models for introducing electric polarization in force fields, with special focus on methods where polarization is modelled at the atomic charge level. While electric polarization has been included in several force fields, the common approach has been to focus on atomic dipole polarizability. Several approaches allow modelling electric polarization by using charge-flow between charge sites instead, but this has been less exploited, despite that atomic charges and charge-flow is expected to be more important than atomic dipoles and dipole polarizability. A number of challenges are required to be solved for charge-flow models to be incorporated into polarizable force fields, for example how to parameterize the models and how to make them computational efficient.

Automated summary

The article reviews different models for introducing electric polarization in force fields, with a focus on methods modelling polarization at the atomic charge level. Despite the potential importance of atomic charges and charge-flow models in comparison to atomic dipoles and dipole polarizability, the latter has been more commonly used in force fields. Challenges remain in parameterizing charge-flow models and making them computationally efficient in order for them to be incorporated into polarizable force fields.