# compute command

## Syntax

    compute ID group-ID style general_keywords general_values args

- ID = user-assigned name for the computation
- group-ID = ID of the group of atoms to perform the computation on
- style = one of a list of possible style names (see below)
- zero or more general_keywords/general_values pair may be appended
- general_keywords = update_on_run_end

    update_on_run_end value = 'yes' or 'no'
      yes = compute is updated at the last step of each run command
      no = compute is not updated at the end of a run

- args = arguments used by a particular style

## Examples

    compute 1 all temp
    compute newtemp flow temp/partial 1 1 0
    compute 3 all ke/atom update_on_run_end yes

## Description

Define a computation that will be performed on a group of atoms. Quantities calculated by a compute are instantaneous values, meaning they are calculated from information about atoms on the current timestep or iteration, though a compute may internally store some information about a previous state of the system. Defining a compute does not perform a computation. Instead computes are invoked by other LIGGGHTS(R)-PUBLIC commands as needed, e.g. to calculate dump file output. See this howto section for a summary of various LIGGGHTS(R)-PUBLIC output options, many of which involve computes.

The full list of fixes defined in LIGGGHTS(R)-PUBLIC is on this page.

The ID of a compute can only contain alphanumeric characters and underscores.

Computes calculate one of three styles of quantities: global, per-atom, or local. A global quantity is one or more system-wide values, e.g. the temperature of the system. A per-atom quantity is one or more values per atom, e.g. the kinetic energy of each atom. Per-atom values are set to 0.0 for atoms not in the specified compute group. Local quantities are calculated by each processor based on the atoms it owns, but there may be zero or more per atom, e.g. a list of bond distances. Computes that produce per-atom quantities have the word “atom” in their style, e.g. ke/atom. Computes that produce local quantities have the word “local” in their style, e.g. bond/local. Styles with neither “atom” or “local” in their style produce global quantities.

Note that a single compute produces either global or per-atom or local quantities, but never more than one of these.

Global, per-atom, and local quantities each come in three kinds: a single scalar value, a vector of values, or a 2d array of values. The doc page for each compute describes the style and kind of values it produces, e.g. a per-atom vector. Some computes produce more than one kind of a single style, e.g. a global scalar and a global vector.

When a compute quantity is accessed, as in many of the output commands discussed below, it can be referenced via the following bracket notation, where ID is the ID of the compute:

c_ID | entire scalar, vector, or array
c_ID[I] | one element of vector, one column of array
c_ID[I][J] | one element of array

In other words, using one bracket reduces the dimension of the quantity once (vector -> scalar, array -> vector). Using two brackets reduces the dimension twice (array -> scalar). Thus a command that uses scalar compute values as input can also process elements of a vector or array.

Note that commands and variables which use compute quantities typically do not allow for all kinds, e.g. a command may require a vector of values, not a scalar. This means there is no ambiguity about referring to a compute quantity as c_ID even if it produces, for example, both a scalar and vector. The doc pages for various commands explain the details.

In LIGGGHTS(R)-PUBLIC, the values generated by a compute can be used in several ways:

- Global values can be output via the thermo_style custom or fix ave/time command. Or the values can be referenced in a variable equal or variable atom command.
- Per-atom values can be output via the dump custom command or the fix ave/spatial command. Or they can be time-averaged via the fix ave/atom command or reduced by the compute reduce command. Or the per-atom values can be referenced in an atom-style variable.
- Local values can be reduced by the compute reduce command, or histogrammed by the fix ave/histo command, or output by the dump local command.

The results of computes that calculate global quantities can be either “intensive” or “extensive” values. Intensive means the value is independent of the number of atoms in the simulation, e.g. temperature. Extensive means the value scales with the number of atoms in the simulation, e.g. total rotational kinetic energy. Thermodynamic output will normalize extensive values by the number of atoms in the system, depending on the “thermo_modify norm” setting. It will not normalize intensive values. If a compute value is accessed in another way, e.g. by a variable, you may want to know whether it is an intensive or extensive value. See the doc page for individual computes for further info.

Compute values can also be used after a run command to perform if conditionals or print statements. In order to use the result of a compute outside of a run it needs to be updated at the end of each run. As computes generally update only upon request (e.g. before a dump) this needs to be specified explicitly using the update_on_run_end option which is available for every compute. If the associated value is set to ‘yes’ the compute will be updated at the end of each run command and will be available for use.

Properties of either a default or user-defined compute can be modified via the compute_modify command.

Computes can be deleted with the uncompute command.

Code for new computes can be added to LIGGGHTS(R)-PUBLIC (see this section of the manual) and the results of their calculations accessed in the various ways described above.

Each compute style has its own doc page which describes its arguments and what it does. The full list of computes defined in LIGGGHTS(R)-PUBLIC is on this page.

## Restrictions

> none

## Related commands

uncompute, compute_modify, fix ave/atom, fix ave/spatial, fix ave/time, fix ave/histo

Default: none