Frank Graziani
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Seminar Information
The experimental and computational investigation of equilibrium and non-equilibrium strongly coupled plasmas with degenerate electrons is an intellectually stimulating and scientifically challenging problem. This is the subject of warm dense matter (WDM). Warm dense matter “ exists in the lower-temperature portion of the high energy density (HED) regime, under conditions where the assumptions of both condensed matter theory and ideal plasma theory break down., and where quantum mechanics, particle correlations, and electric forces are all important.” [FESAC 2009]. Interiors of giant planets, brown dwarfs, and neutron star envelopes are all examples of matter at this extreme condition. A wide variety of theoretical/computational methods are in routine use for studying WDM. Recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in using a “simpler” approach dating back to the origins of quantum mechanics, called quantum hydrodynamics (QHD). QHD is able to capture quantum degeneracy, quantum non-locality, and particle interactions in a set of deceptively simple looking fluid equations for fluid density and momentum. In this talk we present an overview of the properties of warm dense matter, and discuss the historical and recent developments in QHD. We then apply QHD to the computational investigation of shock formation in an electron gas and how quantum non-locality alters the usual shock structure seen in fluids.
Dr. Frank Graziani’s thesis work explored the non-perturbative aspects of quantum field theories such as quantum chromodynamics. Graziani was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Colorado and the University of Minnesota, where he worked on cosmology and particle physics. He also worked on exo-planet dynamics and star formation in molecular clouds at NASA’s Ames Research Center.
Graziani joined LLNL in 1989 as a computational physicist working in the field of radiation transport and plasma physics. Since then, he has held various leadership positions, including project lead for verification and validation lead, principal investigator for two LDRD-Strategic Initiative projects, lead for the National Boost Initiative, and associate division leader for computational physics. He is currently the director of the High Energy Density Science Center at LLNL.
Graziani has won four DOE Defense Program Awards of Excellence, the LLNL Director’s S&T Award, and he isa Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff selection. Graziani’s research interests include understanding the micro-physics of dense plasmas using N-body simulation tools, kinetic equations, and quantum hydrodynamics. He has authored over 100 publications in refereed journals.