David M. Ceperley
Professor of Physics, Founder Professor of Engineering,
NCSA Staff scientist
Professor Ceperley received his BS in physics from the University of Michigan in 1971 and his Ph.D. in physics from Cornell University in 1976. After two years of postdoctoral work at Rutgers University, he worked as a staff scientist at both Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. In 1987, he joined the Department of Physics at Illinois. Professor Ceperley is also the applications coordinator and a staff scientist at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at Illinois.
Professor Ceperley's work can be broadly classified into technical contributions to quantum Monte Carlo methods and contributions to our physical or formal understanding of quantum many-body systems. His most important contribution is his calculation of the energy of the electron gas, providing basic input for most numerical calculations of electronic structure. He was one of the pioneers in the development and application of path integral Monte Carlo methods for quantum systems at finite temperature, such as superfluid helium and hydrogen under extreme conditions.
Professor Ceperley is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2006.
Research Area: condensed matter physics, electronic-structure-based simulations, silicon crystals, metal surfaces, metalization of hydrogen at high pressure, rare gas layers, simulations of solids and liquids as a function of temperature, atoms in strong magnetic fields, and the fractional quantum Hall effect
Current Research
Electronic Structure of Condensed Matter: The goals of our research are to develop computational methods for condensed matter starting from the fundamental many-body equations. The primary methods used are quantum Monte Carlo simulations, which can find exact properties of many-body systems, and density functional methods, which can be applied to diverse solids and liquids. We are combining these approaches to create new methods and to test the accuracy of calculations on materials. Current research includes studies of electron fluids, metalization of hydrogen at high pressure, simulations of solids and liquids as a function of temperature, and atoms in strong magnetic fields.
Prediction of Macroscopic Properties of Liquid Helium from Computer Simulation: This research is concerned with fundamental aspects of helium and quantum fluids in general; we are addressing outstanding problems in the current understanding of relevant phenomena such as Bose condensation, superfluidity, and phase transitions, as well as of theoretical issues such as the inference of bulk properties of matter from the study of finite clusters. The theoretical issues involved in helium systems are of direct relevance to understanding other many-body quantum systems such as correlated electronic systems.
Selected Publications
Khairallah, SA and Ceperley, DM. Superfluidity of dense 4He in Vycor. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 185301-1-4 (2005).
Chiesa, S, Ceperley, DM, and Zhang, S. Accurate, efficient, and simple forces computed with quantum Monte Carlo methods. Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 036404-1-4 (2005).
Shumway, J and Ceperley, DM. Quantum Monte Carlo simulations of exciton condensates. First Intl. Conf on Spontaneous Coherence in Excitonic Systems (ICSCE'04). Champion, PA, May 25-28, 2004. Solid State Commun. 134, 19-22 (2005).
Bernu, B, et al. Exchange frequencies in the 2D Wigner crystal. Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 870-873 (2001).
Ceperley, DM. Path integrals in the theory of condensed helium. Rev. Mod. Phys. 67, 279-356 (1995).
Ceperley, DM. Path integral calculations of normal liquid 3He. Phys. Rev. Lett. 69, 331-334 (1992).
Honors and Awards
- Member, National Academy of Sciences
- Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics, American Physical Society, 1998
- Eugene Feenberg Memorial Medal, 1994
- Fellow, American Physical Society
Other Pages
- Complete Publication Listing
- Homepage of Physics 466 (Spring 2006)—"Atomic Scale Simulations"
