Dr. Wu Lecture Series on Frontier Topics in Condensed Matter Physics

Speaker: Aleksandr Chernatynski, Missouri Science and Technology

Abstract:"Phonon Thermal Transport from First Principles" - Simulations of the thermal conductivity in dielectric materials have rapidly advanced in the last 10 years or so due to the increased computational capabilities as well as methodological developments. One of the most significant aspects is an ability to compute the thermal conductivity of essentially any crystalline material from first principles. In this presentation, I will review the history of the thermal transport simulations, outline the key aspects of the Boltzmann Transport Equation approach to the calculations of the thermal conductivity, and illustrate its applications in such diverse fields as geophysics and nuclear energetics.