Field theoretic atomistics: Learning thermodynamic and variational surrogate to density functional theory

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Das, Sambit, Kanungo, Bikash, Paul, Arghadwip, Gavini, Vikram
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Das, Sambit
Kanungo, Bikash
Paul, Arghadwip
Gavini, Vikram
author_facet Das, Sambit
Kanungo, Bikash
Paul, Arghadwip
Gavini, Vikram
contents The Hohenberg-Kohn (HK) theorem -- the bedrock of density functional theory (DFT) -- establishes a universal map from the external potential to the energy. It also relates the electron density and atomic forces to the variation of the energy with the external potential. But the HK map is rarely utilized in atomistics, wherein interatomic potentials are defined using the molecular or crystal structure rather than the external potential. As a break from this tradition, we present a field theoretic atomistics framework where the external potential assumes the central quantity. We machine learn the HK energy map while satisfying the thermodynamic limit. Further, we obtain both forces and electron density from the variation of the HK energy map, that are exact relations. Our models attain good accuracy across diverse benchmarks and compete with state-of-the-art machine learned interatomic potentials. Through electron density, we predict accurate dipole and quadrupole moments, otherwise nontrivial for interatomic potentials. Our formulation paves the way for a scalable electronic structure surrogate to DFT.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_08782
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Field theoretic atomistics: Learning thermodynamic and variational surrogate to density functional theory
Das, Sambit
Kanungo, Bikash
Paul, Arghadwip
Gavini, Vikram
Chemical Physics
The Hohenberg-Kohn (HK) theorem -- the bedrock of density functional theory (DFT) -- establishes a universal map from the external potential to the energy. It also relates the electron density and atomic forces to the variation of the energy with the external potential. But the HK map is rarely utilized in atomistics, wherein interatomic potentials are defined using the molecular or crystal structure rather than the external potential. As a break from this tradition, we present a field theoretic atomistics framework where the external potential assumes the central quantity. We machine learn the HK energy map while satisfying the thermodynamic limit. Further, we obtain both forces and electron density from the variation of the HK energy map, that are exact relations. Our models attain good accuracy across diverse benchmarks and compete with state-of-the-art machine learned interatomic potentials. Through electron density, we predict accurate dipole and quadrupole moments, otherwise nontrivial for interatomic potentials. Our formulation paves the way for a scalable electronic structure surrogate to DFT.
title Field theoretic atomistics: Learning thermodynamic and variational surrogate to density functional theory
topic Chemical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.08782