Roughly described, a technique for approximating a target property of a target material is provided. For each material in a plurality of anchor materials, a correspondence is provided between the value for a predetermined index property of the material and a value for the target property of the material, the values of all the index properties being different. A predictor function is identified in dependence upon the correspondence. A computer system determines a value for the target property for the target material in dependence upon the predictor function and a value for the index property for the target material. The determined value for the target property for the target material is reported to a user. The correspondence can be provided in a database on a non-transitory computer readable medium. The correspondence can be determined experimentally or analytically for each material in a plurality of anchor materials.
Please help me write a proper abstract based on the patent claims. CLAIM: 1. A system for approximating a target property of a target material, comprising: a source of, for each material in a plurality of anchor materials, a correspondence between the value for a predetermined index property of the material and a value for the target property of the material, the values of all the index properties being different; a target value prediction module which determines a value for the target property for the target material in dependence upon a value for the index property for the target material and in further dependence upon a predictor function identified in dependence upon the correspondence; and a reporting module which reports to a user the determined value for the target property for the target material. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the source of the correspondence comprises database on a non-transitory computer readable medium. 3. The system of claim 2, wherein correspondence in the database was determined experimentally for each material in a plurality of anchor materials. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein providing comprises, for a given one of the anchor materials: providing a description of the given anchor material to an analysis module; and executing the analysis module to determine the value for the target property of given material, in dependence upon the description. 5. The system of claim 4, wherein providing a description of the given anchor material comprises identifying to the analysis module a lattice cell description for the given anchor material. 6. The system of claim 4, wherein providing a description of the given anchor material comprises identifying to the analysis module descriptions of a plurality of lattice cell configurations that the given anchor material can assume, each in association with its relative probability of occurrence. 7. The system of claim 6, further comprising the analysis module: calculating a value for the target property for each of the lattice cell configurations; and providing as the value for the target property of the material an average of the values calculated for each of the lattice cell configurations, weighted by their relative probabilities of occurrence. 8. The system of claim 4, wherein the analysis module comprises a first principles analysis module. 9. The system of claim 4, wherein the analysis module comprises a DFT analysis module. 10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a predictor function determination module which identifies the predictor function by fitting a predetermined form of the predictor function to the values in the correspondence. 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the predetermined form of the predictor function is a polynomial. 12. The system of claim of claim 10, wherein the predetermined form for the predictor function is determined by reference to expert knowledge. 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the target value prediction module comprises a module which evaluates the predictor function using the value for the index property for the target material. 14. A method for approximating a target property of a target material, comprising: for each material in a plurality of anchor materials, providing a correspondence between the value for a predetermined index property of the material and a value for the target property of the material, the values of all the index properties being different; identifying a predictor function in dependence upon the correspondence; a computer system determining a value for the target property for the target material in dependence upon the predictor function and a value for the index property for the target material; and reporting to a user the determined value for the target property for the target material. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein providing comprises providing the correspondence in a database on a non-transitory computer readable medium. 16. The method of claim 14, wherein providing comprises determining the correspondence experimentally for each material in a plurality of anchor materials. 17. The method of claim 14, wherein providing comprises, for a given one of the anchor materials: providing a description of the given anchor material to an analysis module; and executing the analysis module to determine the value for the target property of given material, in dependence upon the description. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein providing a description of the given anchor material comprises identifying to the analysis module a lattice cell description for the given anchor material. 19. The method of claim 17, wherein providing a description of the given anchor material comprises identifying to the analysis module descriptions of a plurality of lattice cell configurations that the given anchor material can assume, each in association with its relative probability of occurrence. 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising the analysis module: calculating a value for the target property for each of the lattice cell configurations; and providing as the value for the target property of the material an average of the values calculated for each of the lattice cell configurations, weighted by their relative probabilities of occurrence. 21. The method of claim 17, wherein the analysis module comprises a first principles analysis module. 22. The method of claim 17, wherein the analysis module comprises a DFT analysis module. 23. The method of claim 14, wherein identifying a predictor function in dependence upon the correspondence comprises: identifying a form for the predictor function, the form having a plurality of coefficients; and fitting the form of the predictor function to the values in the correspondence to determine values for the coefficients. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the form of the predictor function is a polynomial. 25. The method of claim of claim 23, wherein identifying a form for the predictor function comprises reference to expert knowledge. 26. The method of claim 14, wherein determining a value for the target property for the target material in dependence upon the predictor function and a value for the index property for the target material, comprises evaluating the predictor function using the value for the index property for the target material.