Dana Hall 229
860.768.4318 EducationPh.D. - University of Nebraska at Lincoln |
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My interests lie in the general area of theoretical Solid State Physics and Computational Physics. Specifically, it is the application of “Lattice Dynamics” to minerals of geophysical importance such as spinel (MgAl2O4 and Mg2SiO4 ), quartz (SiO2), stishovite (SiO2), MgO and the alkali halides. These are some of the minerals which play an important role in determining the properties of the Earth’s mantle. Theoretical modeling of minerals allows you to calculate the interatomic forces between ions in the crystal from which you obtain dielectric constants, elastic constants, piezoelectric constants, optic frequencies and phonon dispersion curves, all as a function of pressure. My current research involves including electronic polarizabilites of ions in modeling spinel in the form of a “Deformable Ion Model.” |
