Bond order potential

Bond order potentials are a class of empirical (analytical) potentials used e.g. in molecular dynamics and molecular statics simulations. Examples include the Tersoff potential ^[1], the Brenner potential ^[2] , the Finnis-Sinclair potentials ^[3] and the second-moment tight-binding potentials. ^[4] They have the advantage over e.g. conventional molecular mechanics force fields that they can with the same parameters describe several different bonding states of an atom, and thus to some extent may be able to describe chemical reactions correctly.