Mineral Physics Institute
Summer Scholars Program

David Stahnke
University of CA - San Diego
Major: Physics
Mentors: Phil Allen

Summer Project Description:

Periclase, or MgO, is a simple ionic mineral, but one in which many-body interactions are important.
The thermal equation of state, elasticity, melting, thermal conductivity, and diffusivity have been studied using
first-principles methods, i.e. from fundamental physics. There is generally good agreement with experiment.
As a model for oxides and silicates, studies of MgO provide fundamental information on the high pressure
behavior of minerals in the deep Earth. Magnesium oxide, periclase, is the simplest oxide and has been subject
to a large amounts of study. Oxides and Silicates make up the bulk of the Earth's mantle and crust and it is important
to understand and predict their behavior. We are curious about the properties of MgO so my summer research is to
use General Utility Lattice Program (GULP) in order to construct models of such topics as phonon dispersion,
density of states, and the components of energy.