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Main Authors: Vasylenko, Andrij, Ottomano, Federico, Collins, Christopher M., Savani, Rahul, Dyer, Matthew S., Rosseinsky, Matthew J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.23181
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author Vasylenko, Andrij
Ottomano, Federico
Collins, Christopher M.
Savani, Rahul
Dyer, Matthew S.
Rosseinsky, Matthew J.
author_facet Vasylenko, Andrij
Ottomano, Federico
Collins, Christopher M.
Savani, Rahul
Dyer, Matthew S.
Rosseinsky, Matthew J.
contents Discovering materials with new structural chemistry is key to achieving transformative functionality. Generative artificial intelligence offers a scalable route to propose candidate crystal structures. We introduce a reliable low-cost proxy for structural novelty as a conditioning property to steer generation towards novel yet physically plausible structures. We then develop a physics-informed diffusion model that embeds this descriptor of local environment diversity together with compactness as a stability metric to balance physical plausibility with structural novelty. Conditioning on these metrics improves generative performance across diffusion models, shifting generation away from structural motifs that dominate the training data. A chemically grounded validation protocol isolates those candidates that combine plausibility with structural novelty for physics-based calculation of energetic stability. Both the stability and the novelty of candidates emerging from this workflow can however change when the full potential energy surface at a candidate composition is evaluated with crystal structure prediction (CSP). This suggests a practical generative-CSP synergy for discovery-oriented exploration, where AI targets physically viable yet structurally distinct regions of chemical space for detailed physics-based assessment of novelty and stability.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_23181
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Introducing physics-informed generative models for targeting structural novelty in the exploration of chemical space
Vasylenko, Andrij
Ottomano, Federico
Collins, Christopher M.
Savani, Rahul
Dyer, Matthew S.
Rosseinsky, Matthew J.
Materials Science
Machine Learning
Discovering materials with new structural chemistry is key to achieving transformative functionality. Generative artificial intelligence offers a scalable route to propose candidate crystal structures. We introduce a reliable low-cost proxy for structural novelty as a conditioning property to steer generation towards novel yet physically plausible structures. We then develop a physics-informed diffusion model that embeds this descriptor of local environment diversity together with compactness as a stability metric to balance physical plausibility with structural novelty. Conditioning on these metrics improves generative performance across diffusion models, shifting generation away from structural motifs that dominate the training data. A chemically grounded validation protocol isolates those candidates that combine plausibility with structural novelty for physics-based calculation of energetic stability. Both the stability and the novelty of candidates emerging from this workflow can however change when the full potential energy surface at a candidate composition is evaluated with crystal structure prediction (CSP). This suggests a practical generative-CSP synergy for discovery-oriented exploration, where AI targets physically viable yet structurally distinct regions of chemical space for detailed physics-based assessment of novelty and stability.
title Introducing physics-informed generative models for targeting structural novelty in the exploration of chemical space
topic Materials Science
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.23181