Renata Wentzcovitch

Renata M. Wentzcovitch

Professor of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics; Professor of Earth and Environmental Science

Renata Wentzcovitch is a Professor in the Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics Department in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory.

Renata Wentzcovitch is a Professor in the Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics Department in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory. Her research focuses on developing and applying ab initio quantum mechanical methods to study materials at extreme pressure and temperatures. Properties of planet-forming materials at appropriate conditions are essential to model the state and processes in Earth’s and other planetary interiors. Her main current research topics are: i) deciphering the mineralogical implications of seismic tomographic images, ii) producing more reliable materials properties for geodynamic simulations, iii) discovering new mantle and core-forming phases in Super-Earths, iv) unraveling the state of the Earth’s core, v) understanding water intake at subduction zones. Until 2016, she was a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota, where she was a member of the graduate faculties in the School of Physics and Astronomy, Department of Earth Sciences, Chemical Physics Program, and Scientific Computation Program, where she served as Director of Graduate Studies. She has been a regular visiting professor at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste (IT) since 1998, Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) and Earth at Tokyo Institute of Technology since 2002 and a Principal Investigator at ELSI since 2012, the University of Frankfurt since 2008, University of Science and Technology of China and Beijing Computational Science and Engineering Center since 2012. She is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, American Geophysical Union, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Mineralogical Society of America. She received the Humboldt Award for Senior US-Scientist, the Heraeus Professorship Award of the Goethe University of Frankfurt, and the Bridgman Award of the International Association for Advancement of Research in High Pressure Science and Technology (AIRAPT) (first woman). She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Research Areas

  • Atmospheric, Ocean, and Earth Physics
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Solid-State Physics
  • Energy Science
  • Quantum Materials
  • Advanced Materials
  • Energy, Mineral, and Materials
  • Sustainable Production of Earth Mineral and Metal Resources
  • Materials Modeling and Simulation
  • Planetary Materials Simulation and Discovery

 

Additional Information

  • Professional Experience
    • Professor of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, 2017
    • Professor of Earth and Environmental Science, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, 2017-
    • Member of the graduate faculty in School of Physics and Astronomy (1996-2016), Department of Earth Science (2010-2016), Chemical Physics Program (1996-2016), Scientific Computing Program (1996-2016), University of Minnesota, 1996-2016
    • Founding director, Virtual Laboratory for Earth and Planetary Materials, University of Minnesota, 2004
    • Professor of Materials Science, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 2006-2016
    • Associate Professor of Materials Science, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 2001-2006
    • Assistant Professor of Materials Science, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 1994-2001
  • Professional Affiliations
    • American Physical Society
    • American Geophysical Union
    • Mineralogical Society of America
    • American Association for Advancement of Science
    • Materials Research Society
    • American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • Honors & Awards

    • Bridgman Award of the International Association for Advancement of Research in High Pressure Science and Technology (AIRAPT) (2025) (first woman)

    • Harry Hess Visiting Professorship at Princeton University, 2024

    • President-Elect, President, Past-President, Mineral and Rock Physics Section, American Geophysical Union, 2023 - 2028

    • Vice-Chair, Chair-Elect, Chair, Past-Chair, Division of Computational Physics, American Physical Society, 2017 - 2020

    •Outstanding Referee for Physical Review B, 2021

    • Wilhelm Heraeus Visiting Professorship Award, University of Frankfurt, 2015 - 2016

    • Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2013-

    • Fellow, American Association for Advancement of Science (Physics), 2012-

    • Fellow, Mineralogical Society of America, 2009-

    • Fellow, American Geophysical Union, 2008-

    • Fellow, American Physical Society, Division of Materials Physics, 2006-

    • Alexander von Humboldt Research Award for Senior US Scientists, 2008

    • Japan Society for Progress of Science (JSPS), Invitation Fellowship for Research in Japan, 2008

    • Member at-large, American Physical Society, Division of Computational Physics, 2000 - 2003

    • Fellow (2001-) and Associate Fellow (1997-2001) of Minnesota Supercomputing Institute

    • Shell Land-Grant Professor in Chemical Engineering and Material Science, University of Minnesota, 1994 - 1995

    • Honorary Research Fellow, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK, 1993 - 1994

    • Fellowships from Brazilian agencies:

    - São Paulo State Research Foundation, FAPESP (undergraduate, 1978-80), with Sueli Aldrovandi (Astrophysics, Institute for Astronomy and Geophysics, University of São Paulo)

    - National Research Council for Nuclear Energy, CNEN (MSc, 1980-82), with José Roberto Leite (Physics, Nuclear Energy Research Institute, University of São Paulo)

    - National Research Council, CNPq (PhD, 1983-87) with Marvin L. Cohen (Physics, UC-Berkeley)

  • Selected Publications

    250. L. Wei, K.-M. Ho, R. M. Wentzcovitch, Y. Sun, The Fe-Ni phase diagram and the Earth’s inner core structure, Science Advances11, eadu1998. DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adu1998(2025). https://arxiv.org/pdf/2503.21493

    247. H. Wang, C. Luo, and R. M. Wentzcovitch, Machine learning potentials for serpentines, J. Geophys. Res. Machine Learning and Computations1, e2024JH000434. DOI: 10.1029/2024JH000434 (2024). https://arxiv.org/pdf/2409.16402

    245. Z. Zhuang and R. Wentzcovitch, Fe2+ partitioning in Al-free pyrolite: consequences for seismic velocities and heterogeneities, Geophys. Res. Lett.51, e2024GL108967 (2024). DOI: 10.1029/2024GL108967 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2405.11830

    243. F. Wu, Y. Sun, T. Wan, S. Wu, and R. M. Wentzcovitch, Deep-learning-based prediction of the tetragonal to cubic transition in davemaoite, Geophys. Res. Lett. 51, e2023GL108012 (2024). DOI: 10.1029/2023GL108012 https://arxiv.org/html/2401.14588v1

    239. L. Cobden, J. Zhuang, W. Lei, R. M. Wentzcovitch, J. Trampert, and J. Tromp, Full-waveform tomography reveals iron spin crossover in Earth’s lowermantle, Nature Communications15, 1961 (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46040-1 https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.05476

    234. Z. Zhang, Y. Sun, and R. M. Wentzcovitch, PBE-GGA predicts the B8↔B2 phase boundary of FeO under Earth’s core pressures,Proc. Nat. Acad. Sc. USA120, e2304726120 (2023). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2304726120 https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.15052

    230. Q. Zhang, C. Gu, J. Zhuang, and R. M. Wentzcovitch, express: extensible, high-level workflows for swifter ab initio materials modeling, Comp. Phys. Comm., 108515 (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.cpc.2022.108515 https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.11724

    229 J. Liu, Y. Sun, C. Lv, F. Zhang, S. Fu, V. B. Prakapenka, C.-Z. Wang, K.-M. Ho, J.-F. Lin, R. M. Wentzcovitch, Iron-rich Fe-O compounds at Earth's core pressures, The Innovation 4, 100354, (2023).  DOI: 10.1016/J.XINN.2022.100354 https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.00524

    219. Y. Sun, F. Zhang, M. Y. Mendelev, R. M. Wentzcovitch, K.-M. Ho, Two-step nucleation of the Earth's inner core, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 119, e2113059199, (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2113059119 https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.07296

    218. Z. Zhang, D.-B. Zhang, K. Onga, K. Ohta, K. Hirose, R. M. Wentzcovitch, Thermal conductivity of cubic CaSiO3–perovskite at lower mantle conditions, Phys. Rev. B104, 184101, (2021).DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.104.184101 https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.08289s

    216. G. Shephard, C. Houser, J. Hernlund, J. Valencia-Cardona, R. Tronne, and R. M. Wentzcovitch, Seismic detection of the iron spin transition in Earth's lower mantle, Nature Communications 12, 5905 (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26115-z https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/133/

    215. C. Luo, X. Deng, W. Wang, G. Shukla, Z. Wu, and R. M. Wentzcovitch, cij: a Python code for quasiharmonic thermoelasticity, Comp. Phys. Comm. 267, 108067 (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.cpc.2021.108067 https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.12596

    214. K. Umemoto and R. M. Wentzcovitch, Ab initio prediction of an order-disorder transition in Mg2GeO4: implication for the nature of Super-Earth's mantles, Phys.Rev. Materials5, 093604 (2021). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.5.093604 http://arxiv.org/abs/2012.08056

    207. M. Marcondes, F. Zhang, and R. M. Wentzcovitch, Phonons in (Mg,Fe)O ferropericlase throughout the iron spin crossover, Phys. Rev. B102, 104112 (2020). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.102.104112 https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.12348

    205. W. Wang, Y. Xu, D. Sun, S. Ni, R. M. Wentzcovitch, and Z. Wu, Velocity and density characteristics of subducted oceanic crust and the origin of seismic heterogeneities in the lower mantle, Nature Communications 11, 1-7 (2020). DOI:10.1038/s41467-019-13720-2