kALDo 2.0: Scalable Thermal Transport from First Principles and Machine Learning Potentials

Giuseppe Barbalinardo; Zekun Chen; Dylan Folkner; Bohan Li; Nicholas W. Lundgren; Nathaniel Troup; Alfredo Fiorentino; Davide Donadio

arXiv · 2602.23728

kALDo 2.0: Scalable Thermal Transport from First Principles and Machine Learning Potentials

Giuseppe Barbalinardo·Zekun Chen·Dylan Folkner·Bohan Li·Nicholas W. Lundgren·Nathaniel Troup·Alfredo Fiorentino·Davide Donadio

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Abstract

We introduce kALDo2.0, an open-source Python package for computing vibrational, elastic, and thermal transport properties of solids from first principles and machine-learned interatomic potentials. Building on the anharmonic lattice dynamics (ALD) framework, kALDo2.0 provides efficient CPU and GPU-accelerated implementations of the Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) for crystals and the quasi-harmonic Green-Kubo (QHGK) method. QHGK extends thermal transport predictions beyond crystals to disordered materials, including glasses, alloys, and complex nanostructures. kALDo2.0 introduces native integration with modern machine-learned potentials (MLPs), enabling thermal transport workflows that combine the accuracy of first-principles methods with the scalability of classical force fields. It also features comprehensive support for temperature-dependent effective potentials workflows, flexible storage backends for large-scale calculations, and advanced quantification of anharmonicity. The software seamlessly interfaces with electronic structure codes (Quantum ESPRESSO, VASP), molecular dynamics packages (LAMMPS), and MLPs (ACE, NEP, MACE, MatterSim, Orb), enabling thermal transport studies from 0 K to finite temperatures. kALDo2.0 implements multiple BTE solution strategies and essential physical corrections, including isotopic scattering and non-analytical terms for polar materials. A modular Python architecture with lazy evaluation and multiple storage formats (ASCII, NumPy, HDF5) enables simulations of systems containing up to tens of thousands of atoms. This paper describes the theoretical framework, implementation details, software architecture, and validation examples demonstrating kALDo2.0's capabilities for studying complex materials, including halide perovskites with strong anharmonicity and polar oxides requiring long-range electrostatic corrections.

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Giuseppe Barbalinardo, Zekun Chen, Dylan Folkner, Bohan Li, Nicholas W. Lundgren, Nathaniel Troup, Alfredo Fiorentino, Davide Donadio. 2026-02-27. kALDo 2.0: Scalable Thermal Transport from First Principles and Machine Learning Potentials. https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.23728

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