Numerical methods for the Poisson–Fermi equation in electrolytes

The Poisson–Fermi equation proposed by Bazant, Storey, and Kornyshev [Phys. Rev. Lett. 106 (2011) 046102] for ionic liquids is applied to and numerically studied for electrolytes and biological ion channels in three-dimensional space. This is a fourth-order nonlinear PDE that deals with both steric and correlation effects of all ions and solvent molecules involved in a model system. The Fermi distribution follows from classical lattice models of configurational entropy of finite size ions and solvent molecules and hence prevents the long and outstanding problem of unphysical divergence predicted by the Gouy–Chapman model at large potentials due to the Boltzmann distribution of point charges. The equation reduces to Poisson–Boltzmann if the correlation length vanishes. A simplified matched interface and boundary method exhibiting optimal convergence is first developed for this equation by using a gramicidin A channel model that illustrates challenging issues associated with the geometric singularities of molecular surfaces of channel proteins in realistic 3D simulations. Various numerical methods then follow to tackle a range of numerical problems concerning the fourth-order term, nonlinearity, stability, efficiency, and effectiveness. The most significant feature of the Poisson–Fermi equation, namely, its inclusion of steric and correlation effects, is demonstrated by showing good agreement with Monte Carlo simulation data for a charged wall model and an L type calcium channel model.