Flying ice cube

In molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, the flying ice cube effect is an artifact in which the energy of high-frequency fundamental modes is drained into low-frequency modes, particularly into zero-frequency motions such as overall translation and rotation of the system. The artifact derives its name from a particularly noticeable manifestation that arises in simulations of particles in vacuum, where the system being simulated acquires high linear momentum and experiences extremely damped internal motions, freezing the system into a single conformation reminiscent of an ice cube or other rigid body flying through space. The artifact is entirely a consequence of molecular dynamics algorithms and is wholly unphysical, since it violates the principle of equipartition of energy.^[1]