Faculty and Student Teams Program

Project Descriptions

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Spectral Theory of Dense, Partially Ionized Matter

Requesting applications from science or engineering faculty members at institutions serving students underrepresented in science, engineering, mathematics and technology.

Project Description

The project involves theoretical development and calculations for the equation-of-state (EOS) for partially ionized materials.  Owing to the paucity of experimental data in this field, theoretical calculations are of critical importance for stockpile stewardship and the analysis of increasingly available laboratory data.         

Existing codes, which solve the radial Schroedinger or Dirac equation for monatomic materials, are being improved primarily for numerical accuracy and efficiency by others at this laboratory.  However the codes themselves were authored more than thirty years ago and, as a 1D numerical plus a 2D analytical spherical harmonics decomposition, reflect the computational limits of the day.

We are using state-of-the-art computational methods to solve the Schroedinger equation in time and 3D space.  The 3D nature of the calculation enables us to study material mixtures at a fundamental level and to access the reliability of methods currently in use in which the EOS is calculated for monatomic materials and the EOS of the mixture is inferred from a constant pressure, additive volume rule.

We can also simulate collision processes.  This enables us to calculate the conductivity of warm, dense matter, which requires that we calculate the momentum-transfer cross section for electron scattering within the material.  Also of high current interest is the protonic stopping power of hot, dense plasmas.  Slow collisions involving a stripped nucleus projectile (such as a proton) and a target atom in various stages of ionization demand a 3D computational capability.

Applicants Responsibilities and Relationship to Project

Applicants will receive support under the Department of Energy Faculty Student Team Research Program (FaST) to work collaboratively with the project research team at LLNL for up to 10 weeks during the year starting in June of 2006. Summer and academic year visits to LLNL will be scheduled by mutual agreement between staff in the Defense and Nuclear Technology department and the successful applicant. Ideally faculty will work at LLNL on the project for 10 weeks during the summer in the first year. Faculty will be expected to identify students from their campus to participate in the FaST program offered by the Department of Energy at LLNL. Faculty will provide mentorship and advising support to students during the summer research activities. It is desired that the Faculty member will define specific responsibilities and roles as it relates to the project and become an integral part of the research team working on this project, with the goal of supporting the project through the academic year on her or his campus.

Qualifications of Ideal Candidate

Support and Financial Commitments

See Financial Information.

For More Information contact: