Ab initio simulations of warm dense matter.

A major focus of our research is the precise calculation of thermodynamic, structural, and transport properties of matter under extreme conditions such as those found inside astrophysical objects (approximately 10³ - 10⁶ K, 1 GPa - 100 Mbar).

Planetary Physics

Giant planets in the solar system, such as Jupiter and Saturn, as well as more than 850 (as of 01/2013) extrasolar planets discovered near other stars since 1995, attract great interest in astrophysics.

We are concerned with the diagnostics of warm dense matter, that is, matter with temperatures between about 0.1 eV and a few 10 eV and densities in the range of solids (0.01 ρ° < ρ < 100 ρ°).