Phonon Optimized Potentials
  Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been extensively used to study phonons and gain insight, but direct comparisons to experimental data are often difficult, due to a lack of empirical interatomic potentials (EIPs) for different systems. As a result, this issue has become a major barrier to realizing the promise associated with advanced atomistic level modeling techniques. Here, we present a general method for specifically optimizing EIPs from ab initio inputs for the study of phonon transport properties, thereby resulting in phonon optimized potentials (POPs). The method uses a genetic algorithm (GA) to directly fit to the key properties that determine whether or not the atomic level dynamics and most notably the phonon transport are described properly. 
Andrew Rohskopf, Hamid R. Seyf, Kiarash Gordiz, Asegun Henry
cond-mat.mtrl-sci