Lars Stixrude
University of Michigan
Computational mineral physics has come a long way in a short time and is now poised to make contributions to our understanding of the earth in areas undreamt of only a decade ago. We will review the origins and motivations for understanding the physics of Earth at the quantum mechanical level, the role of computational mineral physics in studies of the earth's interior, and the essence of density functional theory. An overview of accomplishments to date will emphasize contributions to our understanding of the seismic structure and thermal state of Earth's interior and the interplay of theory and experiment. A discussion of future challenges will focus on those posed by natural materials and the importance of moving beyond the study of individual phases towards a better understanding of the interaction among phases through phase transformations and element partitioning.