Transferability Across Different Molecular Systems and Levels of Theory with the Data-Driven Coupled-Cluster Scheme

Machine learning has recently been introduced into the arsenal of tools that are available to computational chemists. In the past few years, we have seen an increase in the applicability of these tools on a plethora of applications, including the automated exploration of a large fraction of the chemical space, the reduction of repetitive computational tasks, the detection of outliers on large databases, and the acceleration of molecular simulations. An attractive application of machine learning in molecular electronic structure theory is the “recycling” of molecular wave functions for faster and more accurate completion of complex quantum chemical calculations. Along these lines, we have developed hybrid quantum chemical/machine learning workflows that utilize information from low-level wave functions for the accurate prediction of higher-level wave functions. The data-driven coupled-cluster (DDCC) family of methods is discussed in this article together with the importance of the inclusion of physical properties in such hybrid workflows. After a short introduction to the philosophy and the capabilities of DDCC, we present our recent progress in extending its applicability to larger and more complex molecular structures and data sets. A significant advantage offered by DDCC is its transferability, with respect to different molecular systems and different excitation levels. As we show here, predicted wave functions at the coupled-cluster singles and doubles level of theory can be used for the accurate prediction of the perturbative triples of the CCSD(T) scheme. We conclude with some personal considerations with respect to future directions related to the development of the next generation of such hybrid quantum chemical/machine learning models.