Pathfinder: A parallel search algorithm for concerted atomistic events

An algorithm has been designed to search for the escape paths with the lowest activation barriers when starting from a local minimum-energy configuration of a many-atom system. The pathfinder algorithm combines: (1) a steered eigenvector-following method that guides a constrained escape from the convex region and subsequently climbs to a transition state tangentially to the eigenvector corresponding to the lowest negative Hessian eigenvalue; (2) discrete abstraction of the atomic configuration to systematically enumerate concerted events as linear combinations of atomistic events; (3) evolutionary control of the population dynamics of low activation-barrier events; and (4) hybrid task + spatial decompositions to implement massive search for complex events on parallel computers. The program exhibits good scalability on parallel computers and has been used to study concerted bond-breaking events in the fracture of alumina.