arXiv subjects

Fábio Ferreira

Publications and source records attributed to Fábio Ferreira.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Towards Scaling Laws for Symbolic Regression

Symbolic regression (SR) aims to discover the underlying mathematical expressions that explain observed data. This holds promise for both gaining scientific insight and for producing inherently interpretable and generalizable models for tabular data. In this work we focus on the basics of SR. Deep learning-based SR has recently become competitive with genetic programming approaches, but the role of scale has remained largely unexplored. Inspired by scaling laws in language modeling, we present the first systematic investigation of scaling in SR, using a scalable end-to-end transformer pipeline and carefully generated training data. Across five different model sizes and spanning three orders of magnitude in compute, we find that both validation loss and solved rate follow clear power-law trends with compute. We further identify compute-optimal hyperparameter scaling: optimal batch size and learning rate grow with model size, and a token-to-parameter ratio of $\approx$15 is optimal in our regime, with a slight upward trend as compute increases. These results demonstrate that SR performance is largely predictable from compute and offer important insights for training the next generation of SR models.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2025

Comparative analysis of the lubrication performance of functionalized copolymers interacting with silicon, cobalt, and silver doped diamond-like carbon

This study examines the tribological behavior of diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings doped with silicon (Si), cobalt (Co), or silver (Ag) in the presence of an amine-functionalized block copolymer lubricant. Under boundary lubrication, Si-doped DLC (Si-DLC) exhibited the lowest coefficient of friction ($\approx$0.045) and nearly 45% lower wear than undoped DLC. Co-DLC showed moderate improvement, while Ag-DLC provided no significant benefit. Cross-sectional FIB-TEM revealed thin tribofilms, 12-17 nm in thickness, on Si- and Co-doped surfaces. As reported for Si-DLC, these films incorporate copolymer-derived fragments, suggesting a similar composition for Co-DLC. These results indicate that dopant-polymer interactions are key to the development of self-organized boundary layers. To gain atomic-level insight, first-principles calculations were carried out on the adsorption of the dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) unit, the copolymer's functional group. The calculated adsorption energies were $-$2.27 to $-$0.57 eV for Si-DLC, $-$1.73 to $-$1.49 eV for Co(0001), and $-$1.21 to $-$1.08 eV for Ag(111). The order of stability (Si $>$ Co $>$ Ag) was consistent with the experimental tribological ranking. Chemical bonding dominated for Si-DLC, while Ag showed mainly weak physisorption. Simulated pull-off forces further reflected this hierarchy, with N-Si bonds requiring about twice the force of N-Co and nearly five times that of N-Ag. The correspondence between adsorption strength and tribological response highlights the decisive role of dopant species in tribofilm formation. These findings provide guidance for designing durable low-friction surfaces in applications such as electric drivetrains and precision mechanical systems.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Scaleability of dielectric susceptibility $ε_{zz}$ with the number of layers and additivity of ferroelectric polarization in van der Waals semiconductors

We study the dielectric response of few layered crystals of various transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN). We showed that the out-of-plane polarizability of a multilayer crystal (which characterizes response to the external displacement field) scales linearly with the number of layers, $α_{zz}^{NL} =N α_{zz}^{1L}$, independently of the stacking configuration in the film. We also established additivity of ferroelectric polarizations of consecutive interfaces in case when such interfaces have broken inversion symmetry. Then we used the obtained data of monolayer $α_{zz}^{1L}$ to calculate the values of the dielectric susceptibilities for semiconductor TMDs and hBN bulk crystals.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Multifaceted moiré superlattice physics in twisted WSe$_2$ bilayers

Lattice reconstruction in twisted transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) bilayers gives rise to piezo- and ferroelectric moiré potentials for electrons and holes, as well as a modulation of the hybridisation across the bilayer. Here, we develop hybrid $\mathbf{k}\cdot \mathbf{p}$ tight-binding models to describe electrons and holes in the relevant valleys of twisted TMD homobilayers with parallel (P) and anti-parallel (AP) orientations of the monolayer unit cells. We apply these models to describe moiré superlattice effects in twisted WSe${}_2$ bilayers, in conjunction with microscopic \emph{ab initio} calculations, and considering the influence of encapsulation, pressure and an electric displacement field. Our analysis takes into account mesoscale lattice relaxation, interlayer hybridisation, piezopotentials, and a weak ferroelectric charge transfer between the layers, and describes a multitude of possibilities offered by this system, depending on the choices of P or AP orientation, twist angle magnitude, and electron/hole valley.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Band energy landscapes in twisted homobilayers of transition metal dichalcogenides

Twistronic assembly of 2D materials employs the twist angle between adjacent layers as a tuning parameter for designing the electronic and optical properties of van der Waals heterostructures. Here, we study how interlayer hybridization, weak ferroelectric charge transfer between layers, and piezoelectric response to deformations set the valence and conduction band edges across the moir{é} supercell in twistronic homobilayers of MoS$_2$, MoSe$_2$, WS$_2$ and WSe$_2$. We show that, due to the lack of inversion symmetry in the monolayer crystals, bilayers with parallel (P) and anti-parallel (AP) unit cell orientations display contrasting behaviors. For P-bilayers at small twist angles we find band edges in the middle of triangular domains of preferential stacking. In AP-bilayers at marginal twist angles ($θ_{AP} < 1^\circ$) the band edges are located in small regions around the intersections of domain walls, giving highly localized quantum dot states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Improvements in the $GW$ and Bethe-Salpeter-equation calculations on phosphorene

Phosphorene is a bidimensional material that has properties useful for semiconductor devices. In this work we studied the electronic and optical properties of this material using the $GW$ approximation and the Bethe-Salpeter equation (BSE) methods. We stress the importance of a careful convergence study of the most relevant parameters, and we show how they affect the result of the calculations. A comparison with previous results is given. The QP band gap obtained was 2.06 eV and it is in good agreement with experimental results. BSE calculations were performed on top of $G_0W_0$ to include excitonic effects. The absorption spectrum was analysed and an optical gap of 1.22 eV was obtained. The calculated excitonic binding energy is 0.84 eV, also in good agreement with experimental results.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗