Tag: GPAW

PAW Setups & PseudoPotentials

GPAW has a large set of PAW setups (updated in 2016) for elements from H to Rn, excluding lanthanides, actinides, and radioactive elements. One can generate new setups with a PAW generating build-in tool and their own risk. One can use optimized norm-conserving Vanderbilt SG15 pseudopotentials (updated in 2017) or norm-conserving Hartwigsen-Goedecker-Hutter HGH pseudopotentials (see also GPAW intro) or even JTH pseudopotentials from ABINIT. There are even more setups, including f-elements, listed on the QE webpage. The great thing about these setups is that they use a similar format – either xml or upf. Apparently, GPAW can read both formats, although there is no relevant documentation. So, there are many ways to run calculations with elements that are missing in the GPAW default setups set. QuantumATK webpage provides an overview of pseudopotentials and even suggests mixing them. I hope that in the future, these and new PAWs will be gathered together like basis sets at the basis sets exchange portal.

P.S. Interesting https://esl.cecam.org/data/ and https://molmod.ugent.be/deltacodesdft

DFT geometry optimizers

These are undeservedly less attention to optimizers than density functionals (concerning Jacob’s ladder). It is not even covered in the recent review: Best-Practice DFT Protocols for Basic Molecular Computational Chemistry. At the same time, in my current projects, the most resource-demanding was geometry optimization – the time spent on optimizing structures was much longer than a single-point calculation. Papers that introduce new (AI-based) optimizers promise significant speed-up. However, there are always some problems:

  1. The tested systems are different from my electrochemical interfaces.
  2. The code is not available or difficult to install.
  3. The code is outdated and contains bugs.
  4. Optimizers perform worse than the common ones, like QuasiNewton in ASE.

ASE wiki lists all internal and some external optimizers and provides their comparison. I have checked the most promising on a high-entropy alloy slab.

Observation 1. QuasiNewton outperforms all other optimizers. Point. I have run a standard GPAW/DFT/PBE/PW optimization with various optimizers:

Observation 2. Pre-optimizing the slab with a cheaper method does not reduce the number of optimization steps. I have preoptimized the geometry with TBLITE/DFTB/GFN1-xTB to continue with GPAW/DFT/PBE/PW. Preoptimization takes just some minutes and the obtained geometry looks similar to the DFT one but that does not reduce the number of DFT optimization steps.

OptimizerN steps*Time$N steps*#Total time#
BFGS1602:44:271703:01:26
LBFGS1502:30:351602:55:04
BondMin1202:46:271302:45:07
GPMin1205:26:233108:14:22
MLMin38verylong2812:31:29
FIRE3805:06:564405:56:54
QuasiNewton801:36:23902:00:10

Note * – the printed number of steps might different from the actuall number of calculations because each calculator has a different way of reporting that number.

Note $ – the time between the end of the first and last steps.

Note # – started from the TBLITE/DFTB/GFN1-xTB preoptimized geometry.

N.B! I have done my test only once in two runs: starting with slab.xyz and preoptized geometry. Runs were on similar nodes and all optimizations were done on the same node.

Conclusion. Do not believe in claims in articles advertizing new optimizers – Run your tests before using them.

A practical finding. The usual problem with calculations that require many optimization steps is that they need to fit into HPC time limits. On the restart, ASE usually rewrites the trajectory. Some optimizers (GPMin and AI-based) could benefit from reading the full trajectory. So, I started writing two trajectories and a restart file like this.

# Restarting
if os.path.exists(f'{name}_last.gpw') == True and os.stat(f'{name}_last.gpw').st_size > 0:
    atoms,calc = restart(f'{name}_last.gpw', txt=None)
    parprint(f'Restart from the gpw geometry.')
elif os.path.exists(f'{name}_full.traj') == True and os.stat(f'{name}_full.traj').st_size > 0:
    atoms = read(f'{name}_full.traj',-1)
    parprint(f'Restart with the traj geometry.')
else:
    atoms = read(f'{name}_init.xyz')
    parprint(f'Start with the initial xyz geometry.')

# Optimizing
opt = QuasiNewton(atoms, trajectory=f'{name}.traj', logfile=f'{name}.log')
traj= Trajectory(f'{name}_full.traj', 'a', atoms)
opt.attach(traj.write, interval=1)
def writegpw():
    calc.write(f'{name}_last.gpw')
opt.attach(writegpw, interval=1)
opt.run(fmax=0.05, steps=42)

Here are some details on the tests.

My gpaw_opt.py for DFT calculations on 24 cores:

# Load modules
from ase import Atom, Atoms
from ase.build import add_adsorbate, fcc100, fcc110, fcc111, fcc211, molecule
from ase.calculators.mixing import SumCalculator
from ase.constraints import FixAtoms, FixedPlane, FixInternals
from ase.data.vdw_alvarez import vdw_radii
from ase.db import connect
from ase.io import write, read
from ase.optimize import BFGS, GPMin, LBFGS, FIRE, QuasiNewton
from ase.parallel import parprint
from ase.units import Bohr
from bondmin import BondMin
from catlearn.optimize.mlmin import MLMin
from dftd4.ase import DFTD4
from gpaw import GPAW, PW, FermiDirac, PoissonSolver, Mixer, restart
from gpaw.dipole_correction import DipoleCorrection
from gpaw.external import ConstantElectricField
from gpaw.utilities import h2gpts
import numpy as np
import os

atoms = read('slab.xyz')
atoms.set_constraint([FixAtoms(indices=[atom.index for atom in atoms if atom.tag in [1,2]])])

# Set calculator
kwargs = dict(poissonsolver={'dipolelayer':'xy'},
              xc='RPBE',
              kpts=(4,4,1),
              gpts=h2gpts(0.18, atoms.get_cell(), idiv=4),
              mode=PW(400),
              basis='dzp',
              parallel={'augment_grids':True,'sl_auto':True,'use_elpa':True},
             )
calc = GPAW(**kwargs)

#atoms.calc = SumCalculator([DFTD4(method='RPBE'), calc])
#atoms.calc = calc

# Optimization paramters
maxf = 0.05

# Run optimization
###############################################################################

# 2.A. Optimize structure using MLMin (CatLearn).
initial_mlmin = atoms.copy()
initial_mlmin.set_calculator(calc)
mlmin_opt = MLMin(initial_mlmin, trajectory='results_mlmin.traj')
mlmin_opt.run(fmax=maxf, kernel='SQE', full_output=True)

# 2.B Optimize using GPMin.
initial_gpmin = atoms.copy()
initial_gpmin.set_calculator(calc)
gpmin_opt = GPMin(initial_gpmin, trajectory='results_gpmin.traj', logfile='results_gpmin.log', update_hyperparams=True)
gpmin_opt.run(fmax=maxf)

# 2.C Optimize using LBFGS.
initial_lbfgs = atoms.copy()
initial_lbfgs.set_calculator(calc)
lbfgs_opt = LBFGS(initial_lbfgs, trajectory='results_lbfgs.traj', logfile='results_lbfgs.log')
lbfgs_opt.run(fmax=maxf)

# 2.D Optimize using FIRE.
initial_fire = atoms.copy()
initial_fire.set_calculator(calc)
fire_opt = FIRE(initial_fire, trajectory='results_fire.traj', logfile='results_fire.log')
fire_opt.run(fmax=maxf)

# 2.E Optimize using QuasiNewton.
initial_qn = atoms.copy()
initial_qn.set_calculator(calc)
qn_opt = QuasiNewton(initial_qn, trajectory='results_qn.traj', logfile='results_qn.log')
qn_opt.run(fmax=maxf)

# 2.F Optimize using BFGS.
initial_bfgs = atoms.copy()
initial_bfgs.set_calculator(calc)
bfgs_opt = LBFGS(initial_bfgs, trajectory='results_bfgs.traj', logfile='results_bfgs.log')
bfgs_opt.run(fmax=maxf)

# 2.G. Optimize structure using BondMin.
initial_bondmin = atoms.copy()
initial_bondmin.set_calculator(calc)
bondmin_opt = BondMin(initial_bondmin, trajectory='results_bondmin.traj',logfile='results_bondmin.log')
bondmin_opt.run(fmax=maxf)

# Summary of the results
###############################################################################

fire_results = read('results_fire.traj', ':')
parprint('Number of function evaluations using FIRE:',
         len(fire_results))

lbfgs_results = read('results_lbfgs.traj', ':')
parprint('Number of function evaluations using LBFGS:',
         len(lbfgs_results))

gpmin_results = read('results_gpmin.traj', ':')
parprint('Number of function evaluations using GPMin:',
         gpmin_opt.function_calls)

bfgs_results = read('results_bfgs.traj', ':')
parprint('Number of function evaluations using BFGS:',
         len(bfgs_results))

qn_results = read('results_qn.traj', ':')
parprint('Number of function evaluations using QN:',
         len(qn_results))

catlearn_results = read('results_mlmin.traj', ':')
parprint('Number of function evaluations using MLMin:',
         len(catlearn_results))

bondmin_results = read('results_bondmin.traj', ':')
parprint('Number of function evaluations using BondMin:',
         len(bondmin_results))

Initial slab.xyz file: 

45
Lattice="8.529357696932532 0.0 0.0 4.264678848466266 7.386640443507905 0.0 0.0 0.0 29.190908217261956" Properties=species:S:1:pos:R:3:tags:I:1 pbc="T T F"
Ir       0.00000000       1.62473838      10.00000000        5
Ru       2.81412943       1.62473838      10.00000000        5
Pt       5.62825885       1.62473838      10.00000000        5
Pd       1.40706471       4.06184595      10.00000000        5
Ag       4.22119414       4.06184595      10.00000000        5
Ag       7.03532356       4.06184595      10.00000000        5
Ag       2.81412943       6.49895353      10.00000000        5
Ru       5.62825885       6.49895353      10.00000000        5
Pt       8.44238828       6.49895353      10.00000000        5
Pt       0.00000000       0.00000000      12.29772705        4
Ag       2.81412943       0.00000000      12.29772705        4
Ru       5.62825885       0.00000000      12.29772705        4
Ru       1.40706471       2.43710757      12.29772705        4
Ir       4.22119414       2.43710757      12.29772705        4
Ag       7.03532356       2.43710757      12.29772705        4
Ag       2.81412943       4.87421514      12.29772705        4
Ir       5.62825885       4.87421514      12.29772705        4
Pd       8.44238828       4.87421514      12.29772705        4
Pd       1.40706471       0.81236919      14.59545411        3
Ir       4.22119414       0.81236919      14.59545411        3
Pt       7.03532356       0.81236919      14.59545411        3
Ag       2.81412943       3.24947676      14.59545411        3
Ir       5.62825885       3.24947676      14.59545411        3
Ir       8.44238828       3.24947676      14.59545411        3
Pd       4.22119414       5.68658433      14.59545411        3
Pt       7.03532356       5.68658433      14.59545411        3
Ag       9.84945299       5.68658433      14.59545411        3
Pd       0.00000000       1.62473838      16.89318116        2
Pd       2.81412943       1.62473838      16.89318116        2
Ag       5.62825885       1.62473838      16.89318116        2
Pt       1.40706471       4.06184595      16.89318116        2
Ag       4.22119414       4.06184595      16.89318116        2
Ag       7.03532356       4.06184595      16.89318116        2
Ru       2.81412943       6.49895353      16.89318116        2
Ru       5.62825885       6.49895353      16.89318116        2
Ru       8.44238828       6.49895353      16.89318116        2
Ir       0.00000000       0.00000000      19.19090822        1
Ag       2.81412943       0.00000000      19.19090822        1
Pt       5.62825885       0.00000000      19.19090822        1
Pd       1.40706471       2.43710757      19.19090822        1
Ag       4.22119414       2.43710757      19.19090822        1
Pd       7.03532356       2.43710757      19.19090822        1
Ag       2.81412943       4.87421514      19.19090822        1
Ru       5.62825885       4.87421514      19.19090822        1
Ir       8.44238828       4.87421514      19.19090822        1

My tblite_opt.py for DFTB calcualation with just one core. It takes some minutes but eventually crashes 🙁

# Load modules
from ase import Atom, Atoms
from ase.build import add_adsorbate, fcc100, fcc110, fcc111, fcc211, molecule
from ase.calculators.mixing import SumCalculator
from ase.constraints import FixAtoms, FixedPlane, FixInternals
from ase.data.vdw_alvarez import vdw_radii
from ase.db import connect
from ase.io import write, read
from ase.optimize import BFGS, GPMin, LBFGS, FIRE, QuasiNewton
from ase.parallel import parprint
from ase.units import Bohr
from tblite.ase import TBLite
import numpy as np
import os

# https://tblite.readthedocs.io/en/latest/users/ase.html

atoms = read('slab.xyz')
atoms.set_constraint([FixAtoms(indices=[atom.index for atom in atoms if atom.tag in [1,2]])])

# Set calculator
calc = TBLite(method="GFN1-xTB",accuracy=1000,electronic_temperature=300,max_iterations=300)
atoms.set_calculator(calc)
qn_opt = QuasiNewton(atoms, trajectory='results_qn.traj', logfile='results_qn.log', maxstep=0.1)
qn_opt.run(fmax=0.1)

To compare structures I have used MDanalysis, which unfortunately does not work with ASE traj, so I prepared xyz-files with “ase convert -n -1 file.traj file.xyz”

import MDAnalysis as mda
from MDAnalysis.analysis.rms import rmsd
import sys

def coord(file_name):
    file  = mda.Universe(f"{file_name}.xyz")
    atoms = file.select_atoms("index 1:9")
    return  atoms.positions.copy()

print(rmsd(coord(sys.argv[1]),coord(sys.argv[2])))

An instruction on installation of GPAW. TBLITE can be installed as “conda install -c conda-forge tblite”.

GPAW installation with pip

Between installation with conda and compilation of libraries, an intermediate path – installation of GPAW with pip – is a compromise for those who wish to text specific GPAW branches or packages.

For example, I wish to text self-interaction error correction (SIC) and evaluate Bader charges with pybader. Neither SIC nor pybader is compatible with the recent GPAW. Here is not to get a workable version.

# numba in pybader is not compatible with python 3.11, so create a conda environment with python 3.10
conda create -n gpaw-pip python=3.10 
conda activate gpaw-pip

conda install -c conda-forge libxc libvdwxc
conda install -c conda-forge ase
# ensure that you install the right openmpi (not external)
conda install -c conda-forge openmpi ucx
conda install -c conda-forge compilers
conda install -c conda-forge openblas scalapack
conda install -c conda-forge pytest
pip install pybader

# Get a developer version of GPAW with SIC
git clone -b dm_sic_mom_update https://gitlab.com/alxvov/gpaw.git
cd gpaw
cp siteconfig_example.py siteconfig.py

# In the siteconfig.py rewrite
'''
fftw = True
scalapack = True
if scalapack:
    libraries += ['scalapack']
'''

unset CC
python -m pip install -e .
gpaw info

TS09 and D4 corrections with ASE

TS09 and D4 are atomic-charge dependent dispersion corrections (see TS09 PRL paper and D4 homepage for the refs). The D4 code is available at github. According to GPAW documentation, TS09 and D4 show for the S26 test set smaller mean deviation than vdW-DF. Herewith, D4 correction does not depend on the actual calculation as it is added to the calculated energy.

Here is how D4 correction can be added with ASE (see Readme) after installing it (for example, as conda install -c conda-forge dftd4 dftd4-python):

from ase.build import molecule 
from ase.calculators.mixing import SumCalculator 
from ase.optimize import BFGS
from dftd4.ase import DFTD4 
from gpaw import GPAW 

atoms = molecule('H2O') 
atoms.center(vacuum=4)

gpaw = GPAW(txt='H2O_D4.txt',xc='PBE') 
atoms.calc = SumCalculator([DFTD4(method='PBE'), gpaw])

#atoms.get_potential_energy()
opt = BFGS(atoms,trajectory='H2O_D4.traj', logfile='H2O_D4.log')
opt.run(fmax=0.05)

Let me stress that before choosing TS09 or D4 one should consider all pro and contra. TS09 method used Hirshfeld charges while D4 uses the electronegativity equilibration method to obtain charges. The former naturally accounts for the interfacial charge transfer while the latter does not. The TS09 correction requires vdW radii and is implemented for a limited set on functionals (see ASE code), like PBE, RPBE, and BLYP. The D4 correction supports much more functionals (see parameters). Regarding the vdW radii values for TS09 bare in mind that there are four data sources – one in GPAW, two in ASE and one more in ASE.

Here is how TS09 correction can be added with ASE and GPAW:

from ase.build import molecule
from ase.calculators.vdwcorrection import vdWTkatchenko09prl
from ase.data.vdw_alvarez import vdw_radii
from ase.optimize import BFGS
from gpaw.analyse.hirshfeld import HirshfeldPartitioning
from gpaw.analyse.vdwradii import vdWradii
from gpaw import GPAW

atoms = molecule('H2O')
atoms.center(vacuum=4)

gpaw = GPAW(txt='H2O_TS.txt',xc='PBE')
atoms.calc = vdWTkatchenko09prl(HirshfeldPartitioning(gpaw), vdWradii(atoms.get_chemical_symbols(), 'PBE'))

#atoms.get_potential_energy()
opt = BFGS(atoms,trajectory='H2O_TS.traj', logfile='H2O_TS.log')
opt.run(fmax=0.0)

P.S. Note that the TS09 and D4 energies are no outputted to the H2O.txt. They are written to the log-file.