i-PI 3.0: A flexible and efficient framework for advanced atomistic simulations

Yair Litman, Venkat Kapil, Yotam M.Y. Feldman, Davide Tisi, Tomislav Begušić, Karen Fidanyan, Guillaume Fraux, Jacob Higer, Matthias Kellner, Tao E. Li, Eszter S. Pós, Elia Stocco, George Trenins, Barak Hirshberg, Mariana Rossi, Michele Ceriotti

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Atomic-scale simulations have progressed tremendously over the past decade, largely thanks to the availability of machine-learning interatomic potentials. These potentials combine the accuracy of electronic structure calculations with the ability to reach extensive length and time scales. The i-PI package facilitates integrating the latest developments in this field with advanced modeling techniques thanks to a modular software architecture based on inter-process communication through a socket interface. The choice of Python for implementation facilitates rapid prototyping but can add computational overhead. In this new release, we carefully benchmarked and optimized i-PI for several common simulation scenarios, making such overhead negligible when i-PI is used to model systems up to tens of thousands of atoms using widely adopted machine learning interatomic potentials, such as Behler-Parinello, DeePMD, and MACE neural networks. We also present the implementation of several new features, including an efficient algorithm to model bosonic and fermionic exchange, a framework for uncertainty quantification to be used in conjunction with machine-learning potentials, a communication infrastructure that allows for deeper integration with electronic-driven simulations, and an approach to simulate coupled photon-nuclear dynamics in optical or plasmonic cavities.

Original languageEnglish
Article number062504
JournalJournal of Chemical Physics
Volume161
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 14 Aug 2024

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Physics and Astronomy
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

Cite this