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Main Authors: Li, Wenwen, Charoenphakdee, Nontawat, Zhuang, Yong-Bin, Okuno, Ryuhei, Tsuboi, Yuta, Takamoto, So, Ishida, Junichi, Li, Ju
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.23064
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author Li, Wenwen
Charoenphakdee, Nontawat
Zhuang, Yong-Bin
Okuno, Ryuhei
Tsuboi, Yuta
Takamoto, So
Ishida, Junichi
Li, Ju
author_facet Li, Wenwen
Charoenphakdee, Nontawat
Zhuang, Yong-Bin
Okuno, Ryuhei
Tsuboi, Yuta
Takamoto, So
Ishida, Junichi
Li, Ju
contents Atomistic simulation methods have evolved through successive computational levels, each building upon more fundamental approaches: from quantum mechanics to density functional theory (DFT), and subsequently, to machine learning interatomic potentials (MLIPs). While universal MLIPs (u-MLIPs) offer broad transferability, their computational overhead limits large-scale applications. Task-specific MLIPs (ts-MLIPs) achieve superior efficiency but require prohibitively expensive DFT data generation for each material system. In this paper, we propose LightPFP, a data-efficient knowledge distillation framework. Instead of using costly DFT calculations, LightPFP generates a distilled ts-MLIP by leveraging u-MLIP to generate high-quality training data tailored for specific materials and utilizing a pre-trained light-weight MLIP to further enhance data efficiency. Across a broad spectrum of materials, including solid-state electrolytes, high-entropy alloys, and reactive ionic systems, LightPFP delivers three orders of magnitude faster model development than conventional DFT-based methods, while maintaining accuracy on par with first-principles predictions. Moreover, the distilled ts-MLIPs further sustain the computational efficiency essential for large-scale molecular dynamics, achieving 1-2 orders of magnitude faster inference than u-MLIPs. The framework further enables efficient precision transfer learning, where systematic errors from the u-MLIP can be corrected using as few as 10 high-accuracy DFT data points, as demonstrated for MgO melting point prediction. This u-MLIP-driven distillation approach enables rapid development of high-fidelity, efficient MLIPs for materials science applications.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_23064
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle LightPFP: A Lightweight Route to Ab Initio Accuracy at Scale
Li, Wenwen
Charoenphakdee, Nontawat
Zhuang, Yong-Bin
Okuno, Ryuhei
Tsuboi, Yuta
Takamoto, So
Ishida, Junichi
Li, Ju
Materials Science
Computational Physics
68T07, 68T05, 82C32
I.6; H.2.8; J.2
Atomistic simulation methods have evolved through successive computational levels, each building upon more fundamental approaches: from quantum mechanics to density functional theory (DFT), and subsequently, to machine learning interatomic potentials (MLIPs). While universal MLIPs (u-MLIPs) offer broad transferability, their computational overhead limits large-scale applications. Task-specific MLIPs (ts-MLIPs) achieve superior efficiency but require prohibitively expensive DFT data generation for each material system. In this paper, we propose LightPFP, a data-efficient knowledge distillation framework. Instead of using costly DFT calculations, LightPFP generates a distilled ts-MLIP by leveraging u-MLIP to generate high-quality training data tailored for specific materials and utilizing a pre-trained light-weight MLIP to further enhance data efficiency. Across a broad spectrum of materials, including solid-state electrolytes, high-entropy alloys, and reactive ionic systems, LightPFP delivers three orders of magnitude faster model development than conventional DFT-based methods, while maintaining accuracy on par with first-principles predictions. Moreover, the distilled ts-MLIPs further sustain the computational efficiency essential for large-scale molecular dynamics, achieving 1-2 orders of magnitude faster inference than u-MLIPs. The framework further enables efficient precision transfer learning, where systematic errors from the u-MLIP can be corrected using as few as 10 high-accuracy DFT data points, as demonstrated for MgO melting point prediction. This u-MLIP-driven distillation approach enables rapid development of high-fidelity, efficient MLIPs for materials science applications.
title LightPFP: A Lightweight Route to Ab Initio Accuracy at Scale
topic Materials Science
Computational Physics
68T07, 68T05, 82C32
I.6; H.2.8; J.2
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.23064