David Landau

The behavior of non-equilibrium systems is an exciting topic but one which is still on the frontier of statistical physics.  We use kinetic Monte Carlo simulations to investigate lattice models for the growth of films by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and other simple kinetic processes.  Our goals are to determine the long time behavior of the growth interface as well as to provide information that can be used to build appropriate theoretical models.   We also use “spin-exchange” Monte Carlo simulations to study pattern formation in driven diffusive systems that constitute a simple paradigm for super-ionic diffusion in a field.  In both cases, computer visualization is an important tool!