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Machine learning potentials (MLP) allow to perform large-scale molecular dynamics simulations with about the same accuracy as electronic structure calculations provided that the selected model is able to capture the relevant physics of the system. For systems exhibiting long-range charge transfer, fourth-generation MLPs need to be used, which take global information about the system and electrostatic interactions into account. This can be achieved in a charge equilibration (QEq) step, but the direct solution (dQEq) of the set of linear equations results in an unfavorable cubic scaling with system size making this step computationally demanding for large systems. In this work, we propose an alternative approach that is based on the iterative solution of the charge equilibration problem (iQEq) to determine the atomic partial charges. We have implemented the iQEq method, which scales quadratically with system size, in the parallel molecular dynamics software LAMMPS for the example of a fourth-generation high-dimensional neural network potential (4G-HDNNP) intended to be used in combination with the n2p2 library. The method itself is general and applicable to many different types of fourth-generation MLPs. An assessment of the accuracy and the efficiency is presented for a benchmark system of FeCl$_3$ in water.

Machine learning potentials (MLPs) have become an indispensable tool in large-scale atomistic simulations because of their ability to reproduce ab initio potential energy surfaces (PESs) very accurately at a fraction of computational cost. For computational efficiency, the training data for most MLPs today are computed using relatively cheap density functional theory (DFT) methods such as the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) generalized gradient approximation (GGA) functional. Meta-GGAs such as the recently developed strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) functional have been shown to yield significantly improved descriptions of atomic interactions for diversely bonded systems, but their higher computational cost remains an impediment to their use in MLP development. In this work, we outline a data-efficient multi-fidelity approach to constructing Materials 3-body Graph Network (M3GNet) interatomic potentials that integrate different levels of theory within a single model. Using silicon and water as examples, we show that a multi-fidelity M3GNet model trained on a combined dataset of low-fidelity GGA calculations with 10% of high-fidelity SCAN calculations can achieve accuracies comparable to a single-fidelity M3GNet model trained on a dataset comprising 8x the number of SCAN calculations. This work paves the way for the development of high-fidelity MLPs in a cost-effective manner by leveraging existing low-fidelity datasets., Comment: 32 pages, 13 figures

Unlike Li-ion transport in the bulk of carbonaceous materials, little is known about Li-ion diffusion on their surface. In this study, we have discovered an ultra-fast Li-ion transport phenomenon on the surface of carbonaceous materials, particularly when they have limited Li insertion capacity along with a high surface area. This is exemplified by a carbon black, Ketjen Black (KB). An ionic conductivity of 18.1 mS cm-1 at room temperature is observed, far exceeding most solid-state ion conductors. Theoretical calculations reveal a low diffusion barrier for the surface Li species. The species is also identified as Li*, which features a partial positive charge. As a result, lithiated KB functions effectively as an interlayer between Li and solid-state electrolytes (SSE) to mitigate dendrite growth and cell shorting. This function is found to be electrolyte agnostic, effective for both sulfide and halide SSEs. Further, lithiated KB can act as a high-performance mixed ion/electron conductor that is thermodynamically stable at potentials near Li metal. A graphite anode mixed with KB instead of a solid electrolyte demonstrates full utilization with a capacity retention of ~85% over 300 cycles. The discovery of this surface-mediated ultra-fast Li-ion transport mechanism provides new directions for the design of solid-state ion conductors and solid-state batteries., Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures

Machine learning interatomic potentials (MLIPs) enable the accurate simulation of materials at larger sizes and time scales, and play increasingly important roles in the computational understanding and design of materials. However, MLIPs are only as accurate and robust as the data they are trained on. In this work, we present DImensionality-Reduced Encoded Clusters with sTratified (DIRECT) sampling as an approach to select a robust training set of structures from a large and complex configuration space. By applying DIRECT sampling on the Materials Project relaxation trajectories dataset with over one million structures and 89 elements, we develop an improved materials 3-body graph network (M3GNet) universal potential that extrapolate more reliably to unseen structures. We further show that molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with universal potentials such as M3GNet can be used in place of expensive \textit{ab initio} MD to rapidly create a large configuration space for target materials systems. Combined with DIRECT sampling, we develop a highly reliable moment tensor potential for Ti-H system without the need for iterative optimization. This work paves the way towards robust high throughput development of MLIPs across any compositional complexity.

In recent years, significant progress has been made in the development of machine learning potentials (MLPs) for atomistic simulations with applications in many fields from chemistry to materials science. While most current MLPs are based on environment-dependent atomic energies, the limitations of this locality approximation can be overcome, e.g., in fourth-generation MLPs, which incorporate long-range electrostatic interactions based on an equilibrated global charge distribution. Apart from the considered interactions, the quality of MLPs crucially depends on the information available about the system, i.e., the descriptors. In this work we show that including -- in addition to structural information -- the electrostatic potential arising from the charge distribution in the atomic environments significantly improves the quality and transferability of the potentials. Moreover, the extended descriptor allows to overcome current limitations of two- and three-body based feature vectors regarding artificially degenerate atomic environments. The capabilities of such an electrostatically embedded fourth-generation high-dimensional neural network potential (ee4G-HDNNP), which is further augmented by pairwise interactions, are demonstrated for NaCl as a benchmark system. Employing a data set containing only neutral and negatively charged NaCl clusters, even small energy differences between different cluster geometries can be resolved, and the potential shows an impressive transferability to positively charged clusters as well as the melt., Comment: 41 pages, 7 figures, accepted

In the past two decades, machine learning potentials (MLP) have reached a level of maturity that now enables applications to large-scale atomistic simulations of a wide range of systems in chemistry, physics and materials science. Different machine learning algorithms have been used with great success in the construction of these MLPs. In this review, we discuss an important group of MLPs relying on artificial neural networks to establish a mapping from the atomic structure to the potential energy. In spite of this common feature, there are important conceptual differences, which concern the dimensionality of the systems, the inclusion of long-range electrostatic interactions, global phenomena like non-local charge transfer, and the type of descriptor used to represent the atomic structure, which can either be predefined or learnable. A concise overview is given along with a discussion of the open challenges in the field.

Machine learning potentials have become an important tool for atomistic simulations in many fields, from chemistry via molecular biology to materials science. Most of the established methods, however, rely on local properties and are thus unable to take global changes in the electronic structure into account, which result from long-range charge transfer or different charge states. In this work we overcome this limitation by introducing a fourth-generation high-dimensional neural network potential that combines a charge equilibration scheme employing environment-dependent atomic electronegativities with accurate atomic energies. The method, which is able to correctly describe global charge distributions in arbitrary systems, yields much improved energies and substantially extends the applicability of modern machine learning potentials. This is demonstrated for a series of systems representing typical scenarios in chemistry and materials science that are incorrectly described by current methods, while the fourth-generation neural network potential is in excellent agreement with electronic structure calculations., Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures