  Minimum energy path (MEP) search is a vital but often very time-consuming
method to predict the transition states of versatile dynamic processes in
chemistry, physics, and materials science. In this study, we reveal that the
chemical bond lengths in the MEP structures, including those directly involved
in the dynamical processes, largely resemble those in the stable initial and
final states. Based on this discovery, we propose an adaptive semi-rigid body
approximation (ASRBA) to construct a physically reasonable initial guess for
the MEP structures, which can be further optimized by the nudged elastic band
method. Examination of several distinct dynamical processes in bulk, on crystal
surface, and through two-dimensional system show that the transition state
calculations based on the ASRBA results are robust and significantly faster
than those based on the popular linear interpolation and image-dependent pair
potential methods.
