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GMX-FREEVOLUME(1)		     GROMACS		       GMX-FREEVOLUME(1)

NAME
     gmx-freevolume - Calculate free volume

SYNOPSIS
	gmx freevolume [-f [<.xtc/.trr/...>]] [-s [<.tpr/.gro/...>]]
		     [-n [<.ndx>]] [-o [<.xvg>]] [-b <time>] [-e <time>]
		     [-dt <time>] [-tu <enum>] [-fgroup <selection>]
		     [-xvg <enum>] [-[no]rmpbc] [-sf <file>]
		     [-selrpos <enum>] [-select <selection>] [-radius <real>]
		     [-seed <int>] [-ninsert <int>]

DESCRIPTION
     gmx  freevolume  calculates the free volume in a box as a function of time.
     The free volume is plotted as a fraction of the total volume.  The  program
     tries  to	insert a probe with a given radius, into the simulations box and
     if the distance between the probe and any atom is less than the sums of the
     van der Waals radii of both atoms, the position is considered to  be  occu-
     pied,  i.e. non-free. By using a probe radius of 0, the true free volume is
     computed.	By using a larger radius, e.g. 0.14 nm, roughly corresponding to
     a water molecule, the free volume for a  hypothetical  particle  with  that
     size  will  be  produced.	 Note  however,  that since atoms are treated as
     hard-spheres these number are very approximate, and typically only relative
     changes are meaningful, for instance by doing a series  of  simulations  at
     different temperature.

     The  group  specified  by the selection is considered to delineate non-free
     volume.  The number of insertions per unit of volume is important to get  a
     converged result. About 1000/nm^3 yields an overall standard deviation that
     is  determined  by  the  fluctuations  in the trajectory rather than by the
     fluctuations due to the random numbers.

     The results are critically dependent on the van der Waals radii; we  recom-
     mend to use the values due to Bondi (1964).

     The  Fractional Free Volume (FFV) that some authors like to use is given by
     1 - 1.3*(1-Free Volume). This value is printed on the terminal.

OPTIONS
     Options to specify input files:

     -f [<.xtc/.trr/...>] (traj.xtc) (Optional)
	    Input trajectory or single configuration: xtc trr cpt  gro	g96  pdb
	    tng h5md

     -s [<.tpr/.gro/...>] (topol.tpr) (Optional)
	    Input structure: tpr gro g96 pdb brk ent

     -n [<.ndx>] (index.ndx) (Optional)
	    Extra index groups

     Options to specify output files:

     -o [<.xvg>] (freevolume.xvg) (Optional)
	    Computed free volume

     Other options:

     -b <time> (0)
	    First frame (ps) to read from trajectory

     -e <time> (0)
	    Last frame (ps) to read from trajectory

     -dt <time> (0)
	    Only use frame if t MOD dt == first time (ps)

     -tu <enum> (ps)
	    Unit for time values: fs, ps, ns, us, ms, s

     -fgroup <selection>
	    Atoms  stored  in  the  trajectory	file (if not set, assume first N
	    atoms)

     -xvg <enum> (xmgrace)
	    Plot formatting: xmgrace, xmgr, none

     -[no]rmpbc (yes)
	    Make molecules whole for each frame

     -sf <file>
	    Provide selections from files

     -selrpos <enum> (atom)
	    Selection reference  positions:  atom,  res_com,  res_cog,	mol_com,
	    mol_cog, whole_res_com, whole_res_cog, whole_mol_com, whole_mol_cog,
	    part_res_com, part_res_cog, part_mol_com, part_mol_cog, dyn_res_com,
	    dyn_res_cog, dyn_mol_com, dyn_mol_cog

     -select <selection>
	    Atoms that are considered as part of the excluded volume

     -radius <real> (0)
	    Radius  of the probe to be inserted (nm, 0 yields the true free vol-
	    ume)

     -seed <int> (0)
	    Seed for random number generator (0 means generate).

     -ninsert <int> (1000)
	    Number of probe insertions per cubic nm to try for each frame in the
	    trajectory.

SEE ALSO
     gmx(1)

     More information about GROMACS is available at <http://www.gromacs.org/>.

COPYRIGHT
     2026, GROMACS development team

2026.3				  Jun 25, 2026		       GMX-FREEVOLUME(1)

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