Interatomic Potential Model Development: Finite-Temperature Dynamics Machine Learning

JQ Wang and S Shin and S Lee, ADVANCED THEORY AND SIMULATIONS, 3, 1900210 (2020).

DOI: 10.1002/adts.201900210

Developing an accurate interatomic potential model is a prerequisite for achieving reliable results from classical molecular dynamics (CMD) simulations; however, most of the potentials are biased as specific simulation purposes or conditions are considered in the parameterization. For developing an unbiased potential, a finite- temperature dynamics machine learning (FTD-ML) approach is proposed, and its processes and feasibility are demonstrated using the Buckingham potential model and aluminum (Al) as an example. Compared with conventional machine learning approaches, FTD-ML exhibits three distinguished features: 1) FTD-ML intrinsically incorporates more extensive configurational and conditional space for enhancing the transferability of developed potentials; 2) FTD-ML employs various properties calculated directly from CMD, for ML model training and prediction validation against experimental data instead of first- principles data; 3) FTD-ML is much more computationally cost effective than first-principles simulations, especially when the system size increases over 10(3) atoms as employed in this research for ensuring reliable training data. The Al Buckingham potential developed by the FTD-ML approach exhibits good performance for general simulation purposes. Thus, the FTD-ML approach is expected to contribute to a fast development of interatomic potential model suitable for various simulation purposes and conditions, without limitation of model type, while maintaining experimental-level accuracy.

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