  This paper reports formation enthalpies of phases in the Al-Mn-Pd ternary
alloy system as calculated from first principles using electronic density
functional theory. We consider all crystal structures as reported in the
assessed phase diagrams of the ternary and its binary alloy subsystems (Al-Mn,
Al-Pd, and Mn-Pd), as well as additional reported or hypothetical structures.
Icosahedral and decagonal quasicrystalline approximants are among the
structures that we predict to be stable, or nearly so. Our results suggest the
need for careful experimental reexamination of phase stability in each of the
alloy systems, in tandem with further efforts to refine crystallographic and
ab-initio structures.
