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GMX-ENERGY(1)			     GROMACS			   GMX-ENERGY(1)

NAME
     gmx-energy - Writes energies to xvg files and display averages

SYNOPSIS
	gmx energy [-f [<.edr>]] [-f2 [<.edr>]] [-s [<.tpr>]] [-o [<.xvg>]]
		   [-viol [<.xvg>]] [-pairs [<.xvg>]] [-corr [<.xvg>]]
		   [-vis [<.xvg>]] [-evisco [<.xvg>]] [-eviscoi [<.xvg>]]
		   [-ravg [<.xvg>]] [-odh [<.xvg>]] [-b <time>] [-e <time>]
		   [-[no]w] [-xvg <enum>] [-[no]fee] [-fetemp <real>]
		   [-zero <real>] [-[no]sum] [-[no]dp] [-nbmin <int>]
		   [-nbmax <int>] [-[no]mutot] [-[no]aver] [-nmol <int>]
		   [-[no]fluct_props] [-[no]driftcorr] [-[no]fluc]
		   [-[no]orinst] [-[no]ovec] [-einstein_restarts <int>]
		   [-einstein_blocks <int>] [-acflen <int>] [-[no]normalize]
		   [-P <enum>] [-fitfn <enum>] [-beginfit <real>]
		   [-endfit <real>]

DESCRIPTION
     gmx  energy  extracts  energy  components	from an energy file. The user is
     prompted to interactively select the desired energy terms.

     Average, RMSD, and drift are calculated with full precision from the  simu-
     lation   (see   printed  manual).	Drift  is  calculated  by  performing  a
     least-squares fit of the data to a straight line. The reported total  drift
     is  the  difference of the fit at the first and last point.  An error esti-
     mate of the average is given based on a block averages over 5 blocks  using
     the  full-precision averages. The error estimate can be performed over mul-
     tiple block lengths with the options -nbmin and -nbmax.  Note that in  most
     cases  the  energy  files contains averages over all MD steps, or over many
     more points than the number of frames in energy file. This  makes	the  gmx
     energy statistics output more accurate than the .xvg output. When exact av-
     erages  are  not present in the energy file, the statistics mentioned above
     are simply over the single, per-frame energy values.

     The term fluctuation gives the RMSD around the least-squares fit.

     Some fluctuation-dependent properties can be calculated provided  the  cor-
     rect   energy  terms  are	selected,  and	that  the  command  line  option
     -fluct_props is given. The following properties will be computed:
	       +-----------------------------+---------------------+
	       | Property		     | Energy terms needed |
	       +-----------------------------+---------------------+
	       | Heat  capacity   C_p	(NPT | Enthalpy, Temp	   |
	       | sims): 		     |			   |
	       +-----------------------------+---------------------+
	       | Heat	capacity   C_v	(NVT | Etot, Temp	   |
	       | sims): 		     |			   |
	       +-----------------------------+---------------------+
	       | Thermal  expansion   coeff. | Enthalpy, Vol, Temp |
	       | (NPT): 		     |			   |
	       +-----------------------------+---------------------+
	       | Isothermal compressibility: | Vol, Temp	   |
	       +-----------------------------+---------------------+
	       | Adiabatic bulk modulus:     | Vol, Temp	   |
	       +-----------------------------+---------------------+

     You always need to set the number of molecules -nmol.  The C_p/C_v computa-
     tions  do	not include any corrections for quantum effects. Use the gmx dos
     program if you need that (and you do).

     Option -odh extracts and plots the free energy data (Hamiltoian differences
     and/or the Hamiltonian derivative dhdl) from the ener.edr file.

     With -fee an estimate is calculated for the free-energy difference with  an
     ideal gas state:

	Delta A = A(N,V,T) - A_idealgas(N,V,T) = kT
	ln(<exp(U_pot/kT)>)
	Delta G = G(N,p,T) - G_idealgas(N,p,T) = kT
	ln(<exp(U_pot/kT)>)

     where  k  is  Boltzmann's	constant, T is set by -fetemp and the average is
     over the ensemble (or time in a trajectory).  Note that this is in  princi-
     ple only correct when averaging over the whole (Boltzmann) ensemble and us-
     ing the potential energy. This also allows for an entropy estimate using:

	Delta S(N,V,T) = S(N,V,T) - S_idealgas(N,V,T) =
	(<U_pot> - Delta A)/T
	Delta S(N,p,T) = S(N,p,T) - S_idealgas(N,p,T) =
	(<U_pot> + pV - Delta G)/T

     When  a  second energy file is specified (-f2), a free energy difference is
     calculated:

	dF = -kT
	ln(<exp(-(E_B-E_A) /
	kT)>_A),

     where E_A and E_B are the energies from the first and second energy  files,
     and the average is over the ensemble A. The running average of the free en-
     ergy difference is printed to a file specified by -ravg.  Note that the en-
     ergies must both be calculated from the same trajectory.

     For liquids, viscosities can be calculated by integrating the auto-correla-
     tion  function  of,  or by using the Einstein formula for, the off-diagonal
     pressure elements.  The option -vis turns calculation of the shear and bulk
     viscosity through integration of the auto-correlation function.  For  accu-
     rate  results,  this  requires extremely frequent computation and output of
     the pressure tensor.  The Einstein formula does not require frequent output
     and is therefore more convenient.	Note that frequent pressure  calculation
     (nstcalcenergy  mdp  parameter) is still needed.  Option -evicso gives this
     shear viscosity estimate and option -eviscoi the  integral.  Using  one  of
     these  two options also triggers the other.  The viscosity is computed from
     integrals averaged over uniformly distributed  -einstein_restarts	starting
     points,  which  are  sampled  over one block out of -einstein_blocks of the
     trajectory.

OPTIONS
     Options to specify input files:

     -f [<.edr>] (ener.edr)
	    Energy file

     -f2 [<.edr>] (ener.edr) (Optional)
	    Energy file

     -s [<.tpr>] (topol.tpr) (Optional)
	    Portable xdr run input file

     Options to specify output files:

     -o [<.xvg>] (energy.xvg)
	    xvgr/xmgr file

     -viol [<.xvg>] (violaver.xvg) (Optional)
	    xvgr/xmgr file

     -pairs [<.xvg>] (pairs.xvg) (Optional)
	    xvgr/xmgr file

     -corr [<.xvg>] (enecorr.xvg) (Optional)
	    xvgr/xmgr file

     -vis [<.xvg>] (visco.xvg) (Optional)
	    xvgr/xmgr file

     -evisco [<.xvg>] (evisco.xvg) (Optional)
	    xvgr/xmgr file

     -eviscoi [<.xvg>] (eviscoi.xvg) (Optional)
	    xvgr/xmgr file

     -ravg [<.xvg>] (runavgdf.xvg) (Optional)
	    xvgr/xmgr file

     -odh [<.xvg>] (dhdl.xvg) (Optional)
	    xvgr/xmgr file

     Other options:

     -b <time> (0)
	    Time of first frame to read from trajectory (default unit ps)

     -e <time> (0)
	    Time of last frame to read from trajectory (default unit ps)

     -[no]w (no)
	    View output .xvg, .xpm, .eps and .pdb files

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

     -[no]fee (no)
	    Do a free energy estimate

     -fetemp <real> (300)
	    Reference temperature for free energy calculation

     -zero <real> (0)
	    Subtract a zero-point energy

     -[no]sum (no)
	    Sum the energy terms selected rather than display them all

     -[no]dp (no)
	    Print energies in high precision

     -nbmin <int> (5)
	    Minimum number of blocks for error estimate

     -nbmax <int> (5)
	    Maximum number of blocks for error estimate

     -[no]mutot (no)
	    Compute the total dipole moment from the components

     -[no]aver (no)
	    Also print the exact average and rmsd stored in  the  energy  frames
	    (only when 1 term is requested)

     -nmol <int> (1)
	    Number of molecules in your sample: the energies are divided by this
	    number

     -[no]fluct_props (no)
	    Compute properties based on energy fluctuations, like heat capacity

     -[no]driftcorr (no)
	    Useful only for calculations of fluctuation properties. The drift in
	    the  observables will be subtracted before computing the fluctuation
	    properties.

     -[no]fluc (no)
	    Calculate autocorrelation of energy fluctuations rather than  energy
	    itself

     -[no]orinst (no)
	    Analyse instantaneous orientation data

     -[no]ovec (no)
	    Also plot the eigenvectors with -oten

     -einstein_restarts <int> (100)
	    Number  of	restarts  for computing the viscosity using the Einstein
	    relation

     -einstein_blocks <int> (4)
	    Number of averaging windows for computing the  viscosity  using  the
	    Einstein relation

     -acflen <int> (-1)
	    Length of the ACF, default is half the number of frames

     -[no]normalize (yes)
	    Normalize ACF

     -P <enum> (0)
	    Order of Legendre polynomial for ACF (0 indicates none): 0, 1, 2, 3

     -fitfn <enum> (none)
	    Fit function: none, exp, aexp, exp_exp, exp5, exp7, exp9

     -beginfit <real> (0)
	    Time where to begin the exponential fit of the correlation function

     -endfit <real> (-1)
	    Time  where  to end the exponential fit of the correlation function,
	    -1 is until the end

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-ENERGY(1)

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