Paul Grabowski is a staff physicist in the Theory and Modeling Group of the Physics Division, where he models and calculates opacity in high energy density systems. He is the team project leader of the opacity uncertainty quantification project, which aims to provide reasonable model variations, including in line shapes, mixing, inverse Bremsstrahlung, and embedding atoms in plasmas. He is interested in extending current models to go beyond single scattering approximations.

Before coming to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 2016, he completed a bachelor’s degree at Vassar College in physics and mathematics with advisors Profs. Maria A. Gomez and Jamie C. Lombardi, Jr., a doctoral degree at Cornell University in astrophysics under the tutelage of Prof. David Chernoff, and a postdoctoral position at Los Alamos National Laboratory, working on wave packet molecular dynamics and stopping power with Dr. Michael Murillo. He also held an appointment as a research scientist at the University of California, Irvine, to work on density functional theory with Prof. Kieron Burke.

Dr. Grabowski has been a member of the High Energy Density Science Center since coming to LLNL. He was the founding chair of its seminar series, hosting about 200 seminars. Currently, he chairs its postdoctoral fellowship and student committees.

Research Interests

Opacity, uncertainty quantification, charged particle transport, atomic physics, density functional theory, outreach, and education

Ph.D. Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 2010

B.A. Physics and Mathematics, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, 2003

Select publications

1. P. E. Grabowski, D. Aberg, D. Fenn, B. G. Wilson, C. A. Iglesias, M. E. Foord, M. K. Kruse, H. Le, P. L. Minner, M. V. Patel, “Opacity Table Generation,” LLNL-TR-822774, (2022).
2. P. E. Grabowski et al., “Review of the first charged-particle transport coefficient comparison workshop," High Energy Density Physics, 37, 100905 (2020).
3. P. D. Aberg, D. Fenn, M. E. Foord, P. E. Grabowski, C. A. Iglesias, B. G. Wilson, “The Opus radiative opacity code, a new implementation of the super-transition array method,” LLNL-TR-813832, (2020).
4. J. A. Frenje, R. Florido, R. Mancini, T. Nagayama, P. E. Grabowski, H. Rinderknecht, H. Sio, A. Zylstra, M. Gatu Johnson, C. K. Li, F. H. Séguin, R. D. Petrasso, V. Yu Glebov, and S. P. Regan, “Experimental Validation of Low-Z Ion-Stopping Formalisms around the Bragg Peak in High-Energy-Density Plasmas,” Physical Review Letters, 122, 015002 (2019).
5. A. Pribram-Jones, P. E. Grabowski, and K. Burke, “Thermal Density Functional Theory: Time-Dependent Linear Response and Approximate Functionals from the Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem,” Physical Review Letters, 116, 233001 (2016).
6. J. A. Frenje, P. E. Grabowski, C. K. Li, F. H. Séguin, A. B. Zylstra, M. Gatu Johnson and R. D. Petrasso, J. A. Delettrez, V. Yu Glebov and T. C. Sangster, “Measurements of Ion Stopping Around the Bragg Peak in High-Energy-Density Plasmas,” Physical Review Letters, 115, 205001 (2015).
7. A. B. Zylstra, J. A. Frenje, P. E. Grabowski, C. K. Li, G. W. Collins, P. Fitzsimmons, S. Glenzer, F. Graziani, S. Hansen, S. X. Hu, M. Gatu Johnson, P. Keiter, J. R. Rygg, F. H. Séguin, H. Sievers, and R.D. Petrasso, “Measurement of Charged-Particle Stopping in Warm Dense Plasma,” Physical Review Letters, 114, 215002 (2015), editors’ suggestion.
8. P. E. Grabowski, “A Review of Wave Packet Molecular Dynamics,” in Frontiers and Challenges in Warm Dense Matter, edited by Frank R. Graziani, (2014).
9. P. E. Grabowski, M.P. Surh, D.F. Richards, F.R. Graziani, and M.S. Murillo, “Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Classical Stopping Power,” Physical Review Letters, 111, 215002 (2013).
10. F. R. Graziani, V. S. Batista, L. X. Benedict, J. I. Castor, H. Chen, S. N. Chen, C. A. Fichtl, J. N. Glosli, P. E. Grabowski, A. T. Graf, S. P. Hau-Riege, A. U. Hazi, S. A. Khairallah, L. Krauss, A. B. Langdon, R. A. London, A. Markmann, M. S. Murillo, D. F. Richards, H. A. Scott, R. Sheppard, L. G. Stanton, F. H. Streitz, M. P. Surh, J. C. Weisheit, H. D. Whitley, “Large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of dense plasmas: The Cimarron project," High Energy Density Physics, 8, 105 (2012).

For a full list, see: Google Scholar