  Using a Coarse-grained Molecular Dynamics (CMD) approach we study the
apparent nonlinear dynamics of water molecules filling/emptying carbon
nanotubes as a function of system parameters. Different levels of the pore
hydrophobicity give rise to tubes that are empty, water-filled, or fluctuate
between these two long-lived metastable states. The corresponding
coarse-grained free energy surfaces and their hysteretic parameter dependence
are explored by linking MD to continuum fixed point and bifurcation algorithms.
The results are validated through equilibrium MD simulations.
