[lammps-users] Lammps Tutorials

Are there any other introductions or help content available for lammps other than the lammps documentation on the Sandia website?

I’m a beginner to both unix and lammps, and I’m having trouble getting started using with the lammps manual only.

Does anyone know where I can find some help material that is at more of a beginner’s level?

hi daniel,

Are there any other introductions or help content available for lammps
other than the lammps documentation on the Sandia website?

I'm a beginner to both unix and lammps, and I'm having trouble getting
started using with the lammps manual only

the lammps distribution comes with a large collections of examples.
but you are correct that for somebody with no previous experience
in MD and unix-oid operating systems, it can be quite confusing.

the lammps manual is by no means meant to be a tutorial, but rather
a reference for people who already know how to do MD simulations.

thus i suggest you spend some quality time with an MD text book
and perhaps an MD code that has a less steep learning curve.
but then again, if you understand the principles of MD and play
around with the various examples and don't try to start with too
complicated example, lammps will be just fine, too.

in my experience, the major problem is not the software itself,
but the fact that people are trying to teach themselves without
taking advantage of already existing local expertise. i would
assume that somewhere around where you are, there should be
somebody _with_ experience in MD that can explain the basic
principles well and get you over the first hurdles and from then
on, it is all as straightforward or as complicated with LAMMPS
as with other codes. in fact, i would say from my personal
experience, LAMMPS is fairly user-friendly as it allows you to
augment the code in many places and that you can inspect intermediate
results in many stages and in many ways.
with other codes, there is much more of a black box deal going on.
this is convenient at the very beginning, but from then on it is
getting complicated to ensure that the code is doing what you
want it to do.

Does anyone know where I can find some help material that is at more
of a beginner's level?

perhaps if you have a list of questions outlining your
main problems, it would be easier to point you into the
right directions. as i wrote before, have a good look into
a text book on MD simulations and try to implement the simple
examples (usually lennard jones liquids) given there with
lammps and don't rush it, and you should be fine. even without
a dedicated total beginner tutorial.

cheers,
    axel.