Machine Learning for Condensed Matter Physics

TL;DR

This review explores how machine learning techniques are transforming condensed matter physics by improving understanding, prediction, and simulation of quantum and atomistic systems, while discussing challenges and future prospects.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of ML applications in CMP, highlighting recent advances, challenges, and future directions in integrating ML with condensed matter research.

Findings

ML schemes for potential energy surfaces

Characterization of topological phases using ML

Prediction of phase transitions in simulations

Abstract

Condensed Matter Physics (CMP) seeks to understand the microscopic interactions of matter at the quantum and atomistic levels, and describes how these interactions result in both mesoscopic and macroscopic properties. CMP overlaps with many other important branches of science, such as Chemistry, Materials Science, Statistical Physics, and High-Performance Computing. With the advancements in modern Machine Learning (ML) technology, a keen interest in applying these algorithms to further CMP research has created a compelling new area of research at the intersection of both fields. In this review, we aim to explore the main areas within CMP, which have successfully applied ML techniques to further research, such as the description and use of ML schemes for potential energy surfaces, the characterization of topological phases of matter in lattice systems, the prediction of phase transitions in off-lattice and atomistic simulations, the interpretation of ML theories with physics-inspired frameworks and the enhancement of simulation methods with ML algorithms. We also discuss in detail the main challenges and drawbacks of using ML methods on CMP problems, as well as some perspectives for future developments.