Dr. Burkhard Militzer

Biography

Burkhard Militzer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He was born in Dresden, Germany, and received his diploma in physics from Humboldt University Berlin in 1996. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2000 and subsequently undertook a postdoctoral role at Lawrence Livermore National Lab. After four years as an associate staff member at the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution in Washington, he joined UC Berkeley in 2007. His research focuses on Earth and Planetary Science problems, utilizing computer simulation techniques derived from condensed matter physics. Militzer's recent studies have investigated hydrogen-helium mixtures within Jupiter's rocky core, emphasizing the comparison between theory and experiment. His research encompasses high-pressure computer simulations, which are critical for understanding the interiors of giant planets. He specializes in density functional methods, equation of state calculations, materials under high pressure, mineral physics, path integral Monte Carlo, quantum Monte Carlo, and planet formation.

Research Interests