Michael Widom
Professor of Physics
Professor of Materials Science & Engineering (Courtesy)
Condensed Matter Theory
Wean Hall 6305
412-268-7645
Education & Professional Experience
PhD: University of Chicago (1983)
B.A.: Cornell University (1980)
Professional Societies:
Fellow, American Physical Society
Fellow, AAAS
Honors and Awards:
Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, 1991
Professor of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, 1995–
Professor of Materials Science & Engineering (Courtesy), 2011–
Visiting Adjunct Professor, University of Pittsburgh Medical School, 2007–16
Visiting Professor, Université Paris VI (France), 1999
Visiting Professor, Université Paris VII (France), 1996
Visiting Professor, Université Paris Sud (France), 1993
Visiting Associate Professor, Cornell University, 1991–92
Associate Professor, Carnegie Mellon University, 1990–94
Assistant Professor, Carnegie Mellon University, 1985–90
Post-doctoral Research: Harvard University, 1983–85
Research Interests
My research focuses on theoretical modeling of novel materials in condensed matter and biological physics settings. Methods of statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics and computer simulation are used to investigate structure, stability and properties of these materials.
Metals in noncrystalline (nonperiodic) structures are a major focus of effort, including: Liquid metals, for example the liquid-liquid transition in supercooled silicon); Metallic glasses, which are multi-component alloys that freeze into a solid while maintaining a liquid-like structure; Quasicrystals, which are partially ordered and highly symmetric structures that are spatially quasiperiodic. These problems are addressed using first-principles total energy calculation coupled with statistical mechanics to model entire ensembles of probable structures.
Recent Publications
Y. Huang and M. Widom, Vibrational entropy of crystalline solids from covariance of atomic displacements, Entropy 24 (2022) 618
M.C. Gao, V. Raghuraman, and M. Widom, Nonlinear deformation and elasticity of refractory alloys, Phys. Rev. Mat. 6 (2022) 053601
M.C. Gao, Y. Huang, and M. Widom, Ab-initio free energies of liquid metal alloys: application to the phase diagrams of Li-Na and K-Na, Phys. Rev. Materials 6 (2021) 013802
V. Raghuraman, Y. Wang and M. Widom, An averaged cluster approach to including chemical short range order in KKR-CPA, Phys. Rev. B 102, 054207 (2020)
M. Widom, M.C. Gao, First principles calculation of the entropy of liquid aluminum, Entropy 21 (2019)
Michael Widom, Modeling the structure and thermodynamics of high-entropy alloys, J. Mater. Res. 33, 2881 (2018)
B. Feng, M. Widom, Band structure theory of the BCC to HCP Burgers distortion, Phys. Rev. B 98, 174108 (2018)
M.C. Gao, M. Widom, Information entropy of liquid metals, J. Phys. Chem. B 122, 3550 (2018)
B. Feng, M. Widom, Elastic stability and lattice distortion of refractory high entropy alloys, Mat. Chem. Phys. 210, 309 (2018)
Michael C. Gao et al., Computational Modeling of High-Entropy Alloys: Structures, Thermodynamics and Elasticity, J. Mater. Res. 32, 3627 (2017)
T. Ogitsu, V. Lordi, E. Schwegler, M. Widom, Comment on “New Ground-State Crystal Structure of Elemental Boron," Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 159601 (2017)
S. Yao, Q. Gao, M. Widom, Phase diagram of boron carbide with variable carbon composition, Phys. Rev. B 95, 054101 (2017)
Michael Widom, Frequency estimate for multicomponent crystalline compounds, J. Stat. Phys. 167, 726 (2017)
More Publications:
ORCID Researcher ID