Beyond Force Metrics: Pre-Training MLFFs for Stable MD Simulations

Abstract: Machine-learning force fields (MLFFs) have emerged as a promising solution for speeding up ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, where accurate force predictions are critical but often computationally expensive. In this work, we employ GemNet-T, a graph neural network model, as an MLFF and investigate two training strategies: (1) direct training on MD17 (10K samples) without pre-training, and (2) pre-training on the large-scale OC20 dataset followed by fine-tuning on MD17 (10K). While both approaches achieve low force mean absolute errors (MAEs), reaching 5 meV/A per atom, we find that lower force errors do not necessarily guarantee stable MD simulations. Notably, the pre-trained GemNet-T model yields significantly improved simulation stability, sustaining trajectories up to three times longer than the model trained from scratch. These findings underscore the value of pre-training on large, diverse datasets to capture complex molecular interactions and highlight that force MAE alone is not always a sufficient metric of MD simulation stability.