The Open Quantum Materials Database (OQMD): assessing the accuracy of DFT formation energies

Scott Kirklin, James E. Saal, Bryce Meredig, Alexander Thompson, Jeff W. Doak, Muratahan Aykol, Stefan Rühl, Chris Wolverton · npj Computational Materials · 2015 · materials-science · 10.1038/npjcompumats.2015.10 · record kirklin2015-the-open-quantum-materials-databas
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Other fields define these differently the same word, defined another way in another discipline
DFT 4 fields · MAE 4 fields · simulation 2 fields

Tags on this paper

Every tag the record carries, each linking to every other paper in the corpus that carries it. A tag appears here whether or not its words occur in the article — the spans below are only the ones a sentence in this paper licenses. Of the 9 concept tags on this paper, all 9 are grounded in a quoted sentence. All carry the tagger's gloss of what the term means in this paper, which is not something the article can license.
OQMD ICSD DFT formation energies experimental uncertainties databases van der Waals experiment AFLOWLIB measure the ruler before blaming the thing measured the calculation closer to experiment than experiment is to itself an open derivative of a closed source a known blind spot, named by physics rather than by residual prediction as the leftover of a comparison MAE simulation
Method, as described: high-throughput DFT over crystal structures from the ICSD plus decorations of common prototypes, with formation energies compared against two experimental thermochemical databases and against each other

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relation to other workclaim_relationshow this paper stands to another: agrees, contradicts, extends, qualifies
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concept edgeconcept_edgesan asserted relation between two concepts, with the sentence asserting it
conceptconceptsan idea the paper works with, quoted where the paper uses it
content tagcontent_tagsa finding, definition, quantity, statistic or variable named in the paper
contributioncontributionwhat the paper claims to add
controlcontrolsan experiment run to eliminate a rival explanation
limitationlimitationswhat the paper says its evidence cannot support
mechanismmechanismshow the reported effect is said to come about
methodmethodhow the paper produced its evidence
object of studyobject_of_studywhat the paper is about — the thing it investigates
phenomenonphenomenonthe effect or regularity under study
research questionresearch_questionthe question the paper sets itself
sensesensesa distinct use of a term, quoted where the paper fixes it
transfertransfersa method or concept carried in from another field

The paper

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claim_relations 4 · claim_type 1 · concept_edges 1 · concepts 9 · content_tags 13 · contribution 1 · controls 5 · limitations 4 · mechanisms 5 · method 1 · object_of_study 1 · phenomenon 1 · research_question 1 · senses 6 · transfers 1

Relations on this page carry a quotation for the claim. Where a relation was separately evidenced — and so tested against the vocabulary for its type — the row says so; 1 of 1 relation here carries that mark. The rest are the tagger’s reading of the sentence quoted beside them.

facettagfieldconf.whose words
object_of_studynearly 300,000 DFT total-energy calculations of inorganic compounds, and how accurate they are when checked against 1,670 experimental formation energies
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object_of_studythe paper's words
research_questionhow much of the gap between calculated and measured formation energies belongs to the calculation
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research_questionthe paper's words
contributionan openly downloadable database of DFT energies, and the largest comparison of DFT with experimental formation energies to date - with the experimental measurements also compared against each other
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contributionthe paper's words
claim_typemethod
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claim_typethe paper's words
phenomenona reference standard whose internal disagreement is nearly as large as the error it is being used to measure
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phenomenonthe paper's words
methodsimulation
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also in: simulation
methodthe paper's words
mechanismsthe apparent DFT error is 0.096 eV/atom. The authors then measured how far different experimental determinations of the SAME formation energy sit from each other and got 0.082. Almost the whole gap is the width of the reference. THE CONTROL IS THAT THE STANDARD WAS ASKED HOW WELL IT AGREES WITH ITSELF, and almost nobody asks
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mechanisms[0]0.95the tagger's words
mechanismson the 75 intermetallic compounds shared by the two thermochemical databases, the databases differ by 0.082 eV/atom and OQMD sits 0.071 from experiment. A model cannot be scored below the noise floor of its reference, and here it is already under it
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mechanisms[1]0.95the tagger's words
mechanismsthe entire OQMD is downloadable without conditions or limitations, and it is computed from crystal structures obtained through a partnership with the ICSD. THE OPENNESS IS OF THE CALCULATION, NOT OF THE MEASUREMENT IT STARTED FROM - which is exactly the position the corpus itself is in
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mechanisms[2]0.95the tagger's words
mechanismsthe elements whose predicted ground state is wrong are the ones held together by van der Waals forces, which the semi-local functionals omit by construction. The error is attributed to a missing term in the theory rather than to a fitting failure, and the paper says which elements and why
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mechanisms[3]0.95the tagger's words
mechanismshaving compared what is known, the same stability analysis over ICSD compounds and hypothetical structures yields about 3,200 compounds predicted to exist that have never been characterised. The negative space of the experimental record, read off the same calculation
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mechanisms[4]0.95the tagger's words
limitationsthe ground-state structure of a whole group of elements cannot be determined reliably with the semi-local functionals used, because van der Waals interactions are missing
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limitations[0]0.95the tagger's words
limitationsfor noble gas and molecular solids the change in predicted stabilities cannot be substantiated, since van der Waals contributes a significant portion of the energy
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limitations[1]0.95the tagger's words
limitationswhere two experimental databases disagree there is no principled way to say which measurement is wrong, so the residual cannot be fully assigned
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limitations[2]0.95the tagger's words
limitationsthe structures are obtained from the ICSD by partnership; the openness of the derived data set does not extend to the source
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limitations[3]0.95the tagger's words
transfersinter-rater reliability logic from measurement theory - asking how far two independent determinations of the same quantity sit from each other before scoring a third against either
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transfers[0]0.95the tagger's words
controlsthe deviation between different experimental measurements of the same formation energy, computed wherever multiple sources exist, before any error is attributed to the calculation
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eliminates: the whole model-versus-experiment residual being read as model error - the reference's own spread is 0.082 against an apparent 0.096 · outcome: held
controls[0]0.95the tagger's words
controlsthe two experimental thermochemical databases compared on the 75 intermetallic compounds they have in common
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eliminates: a single compilation standing for 'experiment' - two of them disagree by more than the calculation differs from either · outcome: held
controls[1]0.95the tagger's words
controlselements whose predicted ground state is wrong grouped by physical cause - missing van der Waals interactions, and f-electrons - rather than reported as residual
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eliminates: a list of failures with no account of them; each group is attached to a known limitation of the functional · outcome: held
controls[2]0.95the tagger's words
controlshigher-cutoff calculations run on the noble gas and molecular solids to test whether the discrepancy is a convergence artefact
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eliminates: nothing here - the recomputation reproduces the experimental ground states for He, F and Ar, but the change cannot be substantiated because van der Waals is still missing · outcome: partial
controls[3]0.95the tagger's words
controlsthe entire data set published for download without conditions or limitations, so the comparison can be repeated by anyone
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eliminates: a comparison nobody can repeat - the whole data set is published without conditions, so the numbers can be checked by anyone who doubts them · outcome (stated by the tagger, no quotation): held
controls[4]0.95the tagger's words
conceptsOQMD
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also in: OQMD
concepts[0]0.95the paper's words
conceptsICSD
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also in: ICSD
concepts[1]0.95the paper's words
conceptsDFT
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also in: DFT
concepts[2]0.95the paper's words
conceptsformation energies
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concepts[3]0.95the paper's words
conceptsexperimental uncertainties
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concepts[4]0.95the paper's words
conceptsdatabases
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also in: databases
concepts[5]0.95the paper's words
conceptsvan der Waals
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also in: van der Waals
concepts[6]0.95the paper's words
conceptsexperiment
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also in: experiment
concepts[7]0.95the paper's words
conceptsAFLOWLIB
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also in: AFLOWLIB
concepts[8]0.95the paper's words
sensesthe DFT error - AS APPARENT: 0.096 eV/atom mean absolute error against experimental formation energies
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senses[0]0.95the tagger's words
sensesthe DFT error - AFTER THE REFERENCE IS CHECKED: a significant fraction of it attributable to experimental uncertainty, because different experimental measurements of the same quantity differ by 0.082 eV/atom
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senses[1]0.95the tagger's words
sensesagreement - BETWEEN TWO EXPERIMENTAL DATABASES: 0.082 eV/atom on the 75 intermetallic compounds they share
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senses[2]0.95the tagger's words
sensesagreement - BETWEEN OQMD AND EXPERIMENT: 0.071 eV/atom on the same class, which is closer than the two experiments are to each other
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senses[3]0.95the tagger's words
senses`open` - AS OQMD MEANS IT: the entire data set downloadable without any conditions or limitations
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senses[4]0.95the tagger's words
senses`open` - AS THE SOURCE IS: the structures come from the ICSD by partnership, and that database is not the thing being given away
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senses[5]0.95the tagger's words
claim_relationsqualifies → the practice of reporting DFT accuracy as a single error against experiment, by showing the reference disagrees with itself by nearly as much
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claim_relations[0]0.95the tagger's words
claim_relationscritiques → the two experimental thermochemical databases, which differ by 0.082 eV/atom on the compounds they share
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claim_relations[1]0.95the tagger's words
claim_relationsdistinguishes-from → the Materials Project, the Computational Materials Repository and AFLOWLIB, the neighbouring high-throughput efforts
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claim_relations[2]0.95the tagger's words
claim_relationspredicts → the existence of about 3,200 compounds that have not been experimentally characterised
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claim_relations[3]0.95the tagger's words
concept_edgesDFT —distinct-from→ experiment
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differs in: whether a residual is model error or reference spread · the relation itself is separately evidenced · strength of the relation: 0.95 · differs in (stated by the tagger, no quotation): whether a residual is model error or reference spread · the relation stated: where two experiments disagree, the calculation is often much closer to one of them than they are to each other, so the residual cannot simply be read as the calculation's error Audit 2026-09-28: DOUBTFUL - read against its span and kept, but DFT is closer to one experiment than the other; distinct-from is loose.
also in: DFT · experiment
concept_edges[2]0.95the tagger's words
content_tagsthe apparent DFT error against experiment is 0.096 eV/atom and different experimental measurements of the same quantity differ by 0.082
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content_tags.findings[0]0.95the tagger's words
content_tagson the 75 intermetallic compounds two experimental databases share they disagree by 0.082 eV/atom while OQMD is 0.071 from experiment
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content_tags.findings[1]0.95the tagger's words
content_tagswhere experiments disagree, DFT is often significantly closer to one experiment than the other
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content_tags.findings[2]0.95the tagger's words
content_tagsa significant fraction of the DFT-experiment error may be attributed to experimental uncertainties
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content_tags.findings[3]0.95the tagger's words
content_tagselemental ground states held together by van der Waals forces cannot be determined reliably with semi-local functionals
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content_tags.findings[4]0.95the tagger's words
content_tagsabout 3,200 compounds are predicted to exist that have not been experimentally characterised
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content_tags.findings[5]0.95the tagger's words
content_tagsthe entire database is released for download without any conditions or limitations
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content_tags.findings[6]0.95the tagger's words
content_tagsa high-throughput database of nearly 300,000 DFT total-energy calculations of ICSD compounds and decorations of common crystal structures, released in full without restrictions
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also in: OQMD
content_tags.definitions[0]0.95the tagger's words
content_tagseV/atom - the apparent mean absolute error between experiment and the calculations
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content_tags.quantities[0]0.95the tagger's words
content_tagseV/atom - how far different EXPERIMENTAL measurements of the same quantity sit from each other
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content_tags.quantities[1]0.95the tagger's words
content_tagseV/atom - OQMD against experiment on intermetallics, closer than the two experimental databases are to each other
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content_tags.quantities[2]0.95the tagger's words
content_tagsMAE
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also in: MAE
content_tags.statistics[0]0.95the tagger's words
content_tagsformation energies
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content_tags.variables[0]0.95the tagger's words

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