Gaussian Approximation Potentials: the accuracy of quantum mechanics, without the electrons

We introduce a class of interatomic potential models that can be automatically generated from data consisting of the energies and forces experienced by atoms, derived from quantum mechanical calculations. The resulting model does not have a fixed functional form and hence is capable of modeling complex potential energy landscapes. It is systematically improvable with more data. We apply the method to bulk carbon, silicon and germanium and test it by calculating properties of the crystals at high temperatures. Using the interatomic potential to generate the long molecular dynamics trajectories required for such calculations saves orders of magnitude in computational cost.Comment: v3-4: added new material and reference

Transition-metal interactions in aluminum-rich intermetallics

The extension of the first-principles generalized pseudopotential theory (GPT) to transition-metal (TM) aluminides produces pair and many-body interactions that allow efficient calculations of total energies. In aluminum-rich systems treated at the pair-potential level, one practical limitation is a transition-metal over-binding that creates an unrealistic TM-TM attraction at short separations in the absence of balancing many-body contributions. Even with this limitation, the GPT pair potentials have been used effectively in total-energy calculations for Al-TM systems with TM atoms at separations greater than 4 AA. An additional potential term may be added for systems with shorter TM atom separations, formally folding repulsive contributions of the three- and higher-body interactions into the pair potentials, resulting in structure-dependent TM-TM potentials. Towards this end, we have performed numerical ab-initio total-energy calculations using VASP (Vienna Ab Initio Simulation Package) for an Al-Co-Ni compound in a particular quasicrystalline approximant structure. The results allow us to fit a short-ranged, many-body correction of the form a(r_0/r)^{b} to the GPT pair potentials for Co-Co, Co-Ni, and Ni-Ni interactions.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PR

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Crystal binding (interatomic forces) : ionic bonding and crystals

We discuss in general terms the models that are appropriate for describing interatomic forces and performing atomistic simulations in ionic materials. In particular we show how the framework of density functional theory (DFT) and second-order perturbation theory provides a unified way of deriving ionic models, including the Born model and shell models, besides variable charge-transfer models, such as charge equilibration models, and the self-consistent tight-binding model. We also discuss progress in the direct numerical fitting of functions to calculated data, which has made significant progress in recent years with the development of machine learning interatomic potentials and other data-driven approaches

Surface structure and water adsorption on Fe3O4(111): Spin-density functional theory and on-site Coulomb interactions

The surface structure of magnetite Fe3O4(111) in contact with oxygen and water is investigated using spin density functional theory plus on-site Coulomb interactions. The present results unravels apparent contradictions in the experimental data regarding the equilibrium stoichiometry of the bare surface termination. Both for 298 K and 1200 K, the equilibrium structure is terminated by 1/4 monolayer (ML) of iron (Fe) on top of a full oxygen layer, consistent with an earlier low-energy electron diffraction analysis. Nontheless, the calculated negative slope of the surface energies vs oxygen partial pressure shows that a 1/2 ML Fe termination would become stable under oxygen poor conditions at high temperatures, in agreement to interpretation of scanning tunneling microscopy experiments. Initial water adsorption is dissociative and saturates when all Fe sites are occupied by OH groups while the H atoms bind to surface oxygen. Further water bridges the OH and H groups resulting in a quite unique type of H-bonded molecular water with its oxygen forming a hydronium ion like structure OH3+-OH. This water structure is different from the water dimeric structures found as yet on oxide and metal surfaces for partially dissociated (H2O-OH-H) overlayers

Solid-liquid interface free energy through metadynamics simulations

The solid-liquid interface free energy γsl is a key parameter controlling nucleation and growth during solidification and other phenomena. There are intrinsic difficulties in obtaining accurate experimental values, and the previous approaches to compute γsl with atomistic simulations are computationally demanding. We present an approach which is to obtain γsl from a free-energy map of the phase transition reconstructed by metadynamics. We apply this to the benchmark case of a Lennard-Jones potential, and the results confirm the most reliable data obtained previously. We demonstrate several advantages of our approach: it is simple to implement, robust and free of hysteresis problems, it allows a rigorous and unbiased estimate of the statistical uncertainty, and it returns a good estimate of the thermodynamic limit with system sizes of a just a few hundred atoms. It is therefore attractive for applications which require more realistic and specific models of interatomic forces.</p