Molecular dynamics simulation of ice XII

Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed on the newly discovered metastable ice XII. This new crystalline ice phase [C. Lobban, J.L. Finney, W.F. Kuhs, Nature (London) 391 (1998) 268] is proton-disordered. Thus 90 possible configurations of the unit cell can be constructed which differ only in the orientations of the water molecules. The simulation used the TIP4P potential model for water at constant temperature and density. About one-quarter of the initial configurations did not melt in the course of the simulation. This result is supportive of the experimental structure and also demonstrates the ability of this water model to study ice phases.