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Efthimios Kaxiras
- John Hasbrouck Van Vleck Professor of Pure and Applied Physics
- Director, Institute for Applied Computational Science
- Area Dean for Applied Mathematics
- Associate, Harvard University Center for the Environment
- Participant, Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center
- Faculty Associate, Center for Nanoscale Systems
Contact Information
| Nickname: | Tim |
| Office: | Lyman 339 |
| Email: | kaxiras [ AT ] seas [ DOT ] harvard [ DOT ] edu |
| Office Phone: | (617) 495-7977 |
| Office Fax: | (617) 496-2545 |
| Lab Name: | Computational Physics and Materials Theory Group |
| Assistant: | Claudia Stearns |
| Office: | Pierce Hall 318 |
| Email: | cstearns [ AT ] seas [ DOT ] harvard [ DOT ] edu |
| Office Phone: | 617-496-4870 |
Recruitment Status
Education
- B.S., 1981, Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Ph.D., 1987, Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Interests
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- Applied Mathematics & Computational Science
- High Performance Computing
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- Modeling Physical/Biological Phenonema and Systems
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- Materials & Devices
- Electromagnetics and Nanoelectronics
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- Materials Science
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- Surface and Interface Science
Primary Teaching Area
Profile
The behavior of a material, whether the propagation of a crack in a turbine blade or the speed of an electronic switch, is ultimately determined by the interaction between valence electrons and ions in a solid.
While it is convenient to study crystals as ideal solids, real solids contain many defects (such as surfaces, interfaces, grain boundaries, stacking faults, dislocations, vacancies, interstitials, and so on) whose presence can dramatically affect the properties of a material.
Since the 1980's, physicists have developed a theoretical framework for studying the nature and properties of solids, using a quantum mechanical description that does not rely on adjustable parameters; this theoretical framework is referred to as Density Functional Theory.
Advances in computational power have made it possible to use this approach for describing realistic solids, including their defects, with remarkable accuracy (even to predict properties of novel materials not yet synthesized in the laboratory).
Professor Kaxiras and his students and postdoctoral associates use these theoretical methods to study the properties of solids in their realistic state, including the presence of defects like surfaces, interfaces and dislocations. In recent work, they have applied them in combination with other techniques such as kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, to study phenomena across different length scales.
These multi-scale studies provide a link between the microscopic structure and dynamics of atoms in a solid to its macroscopic properties and behavior. Examples of such studies include the nature of brittle or ductile behavior of solids, the physics of crystal growth and electromigration phenomena on semiconductor surfaces, and the chemistry of catalysis, corrosion and embrittlement of metals. For references and additional information visit the web page of the Computational Physics and Materials Theory Group.
Positions & Employment
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences/Harvard Department of Physics
- 2010-Present: John Hasbrouck Van Vleck Professor of Pure and Applied Physics
- 2010-Present: Director, Institute for Applied Computational Science
- 1998-2009: Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics and Professor of Physics
Laboratory for Multiscale Modeling of Materials, Institute of Materials, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL)
- 2009-2010: Professor of Materials Science
Initiative in Innovative Computing at Harvard University
- 2008-2009: Director
Biomedical Research Institute, FORTH Ioannina, Greece
- 2002-2004: Director
Department of Materials Science and Technology, University of Ioannina
- 2002-04: Acting Department Chair and Visiting Professor
- 2001-2002: Associate Director
- 1995-1998: Associate Professor of Physics and Applied Physics
- 1991-1995: Assistant Professor of Physics and Applied Physics
Complex Systems Theory Branch, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington
- 1989-1991: Consulting Research Physicist
IBM Research Division, T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights
- 1987-1989: Postdoctoral Research Associate
Other Experience
- Member, American Physical Society
- Member, Materials Research Society
- Member, American Chemical Society
- Member, Sigma Xi - Scientific Research Society
- Member, Institute of Physics
- Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics
- Editorial Board Member of: Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering, Computational Science and Engineering, SIAM Book Series, Journal of Computer-Aided Materials Design, Surface Review and Letters, International Journal for Multiscale Computational Engineering, Computing in Science and Engineering
Honors
- IBM Research Division Award, 1991
- IBM Predoctoral Fellowship, 1985-87
- Chartered Physicist and Fellow of the Institute of Physics (London), since 1999
- Fellow of the American Physical Society, since 2003
Faculty CV
Kaxiras short CV.pdf
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PDF document,
105Kb
