On the Use of Different Potential Energy Functions in Rare-gas Cluster Optimization by Genetic Algorithms: Application to Argon Clusters

Authors

Abstract

We study the effect of the potential energy function on the global minimum structures of argon clusters arising in the optimization performed by genetic algorithms (GAs). We propose a robust and efficient GA which allows for the calculation of all the putative global minima of ArN (N = 3 − 78) clusters modeled with four different potentials. Both energetic and structural properties of such minima are compared among each other and with those previously obtained for the Lennard-Jones function. In addition, the
possibility of obtaining global minima of one potential through local optimization over the corresponding cluster geometry given by other potentials was associated with some structural parameters. The influence of the contribution from the three-body (Axilrod-
Teller-Muto) triple-dipole potential (including or not a damping function to describe its correct behavior at smaller interatomic distances) has also been analyzed.

Subject

Evolutionary Optimization

Journal

Journal of Physical Chemistry, Vol. 112, #27, pp. 6079-6089, July 2008