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A foundation model for atomistic materials chemistry
Open accessAbstract
Atomistic simulations of matter, especially those that leverage first-principles (ab initio) electronic structure theory, provide a microscopic view of the world, underpinning much of our understanding of chemistry and materials science. Over the last decade or so, machine-learned force fields have transformed atomistic modeling by enabling simulations of ab initio quality over unprecedented time and length scales. However, early machine-learning (ML) force fields have largely been limited by (i) the substantial computational and human effort required to develop and validate potentials for each particular system of interest and (ii) a general lack of transferability from one chemical system to the next. Here, we show that it is possible to create a general-purpose atomistic ML model, trained on a public dataset of moderate size, that is capable of running stable molecular dynamics for a wide range of molecules and materials. We demonstrate the power of the MACE-MP-0 model—and its qualitative and at times quantitative accuracy—on a diverse set of problems in the physical sciences, including properties of solids, liquids, gases, chemical reactions, interfaces, and even the dynamics of a small protein. The model can be applied out of the box as a starting or “foundation” model for any atomistic system of interest and, when desired, can be fine-tuned on just a handful of application-specific data points to reach ab initio accuracy. Establishing that a stable force-field model can cover almost all materials changes atomistic modeling in a fundamental way: experienced users obtain reliable results much faster, and beginners face a lower barrier to entry. Foundation models thus represent a step toward democratizing the revolution in atomic-scale modeling that has been brought about by ML force fields.
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Metadata
- Authors
- Batatia, I., Benner, P., Chiang, Y., Elena, A. M., Kovács, D. P., Riebesell, J., Advincula, X. R., Asta, M., Avaylon, M., Baldwin, W. J., Berger, F., Bernstein, N., Bhowmik, A., Bigi, F., Blau, S. M., Cărare, V., Ceriotti, M., Chong, S., Darby, J. P., De, S., Della Pia, F., Deringer, V. L., Elijošius, R., El-Machachi, Z., Fako, E., Falcioni, F., Ferrari, A. C., Gardner, J. L. A., Gawkowski, M. J., Genreith-Schriever, A., George, J., Goodall, R. E. A., Grandel, J., Grey, C. P., Grigorev, P., Han, S., Handley, W., Heenen, H. H., Hermansson, K., Ho, C. H., Hofmann, S., Holm, C., Jaafar, J., Jakob, K. S., Jung, H., Kapil, V., Kaplan, A. D., Karimitari, N., Kermode, J. R., Kourtis, P., Kroupa, N., Kullgren, J., Kuner, M. C., Kuryla, D., Liepuoniute, G., Lin, C., Margraf, J. T., Magdău, I.-B., Michaelides, A., Moore, J. H., Naik, A. A., Niblett, S. P., Norwood, S. W., O’Neill, N., Ortner, C., Persson, K. A., Reuter, K., Rosen, A. S., Rosset, L. A. M., Schaaf, L. L., Schran, C., Shi, B. X., Sivonxay, E., Stenczel, T. K., Sutton, C., Svahn, V., Swinburne, T. D., Tilly, J., van der Oord, C., Vargas, S., Varga-Umbrich, E., Vegge, T., Vondrák, M., Wang, Y., Witt, W. C., Wolf, T., Zills, F., & Csányi, G.
- Venue
- The Journal of Chemical Physics
- Publisher
- AIP Publishing
- Published
- 2025-11-13
- Volume
- 163
- Issue
- 18
- ISSN
- 0021-9606 (ISSN-L)
- 1089-7690
- OpenAlex
- W4416191329
- Cited by
- 566
- References
- 22
- FWCI
- 103.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
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