Alexander Ilyich Landa

Biography

Research Interests

Liquid and amorphous metals and alloys.
Structure and thermodynamic properties of metal surfaces and interfaces.
Bulk and surface phase transitions.
Ab initio calculations of structural, electronic, mechanical, and magnetic properties of solids.
Actinides and nuclear materials (fuels).
Critical materials (rare earths).

Personal Background

Alexander Landa joined the Condensed Matter and Materials Division at LLNL in January 2002. He earned his M.S. degree in theoretical physics from Odessa State University, Ukraine, in 1977, and his Ph.D. degree in physics and mathematics from Tomsk State University, Russia, in 1982. After completing his postdoctoral study at the Institute of Atmospheric Optics of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., Tomsk, Russia, in 1984, he joined the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Tomsk Technical University. In 1985, he moved to the Baikov Institute of Metallurgy of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., Moscow, where he held the positions of the research scientist, senior research scientist, and group leader at the Laboratory of Chemistry of Amorphous and Microcrystalline Alloys. In 1992, he entered graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, where he received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in materials sciences and engineering in 1994 and 1998, respectively, and then worked as a research scientist.

Landa is a coauthor of the monograph “Theory of Phases in Alloys” (Nauka, Novosibirsk,1984) awarded by the Presidium of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. In 1989, he won the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. Young Investigator Research Grant Award. In 2006 and 2007, he won the LLNL PDRP awards for pioneering first-principles calculations for the equation-of-state of actinide materials and their alloys that contributed to successfully completing the important scientific milestone. In 2008, he won the LLNL S&T Award in recognition of his work in the area of fundamental plutonium solid-state and metal physics. In 2008, he won the NNSA/USAF Award of Excellence. In2016, he won a Director’s S&T Award for development of a validated fi rst-principles model for the magnetic and structural properties of plutonium metal. In 2017, he won a Physical and Life Sciences Directorate’s award in recognition of his excellence in publication. In2018, he won the Global Security Directorate Gold Award in recognition of his outstanding work in making significant scientific and societal contributions to the Critical Materials Institute Energy Innovation HUB. In 2019, he won a Physical and Life Sciences Directorate’s award for investigating the effects of plutonium defects. In 2019, he won a NNSA/DP Award of Excellence in recognition of his contribution to the development of new Pu EOSs. In 2020, he won the WPDP Silver Award in recognition of effects of titanium on uranium alloy crystallography and properties. In 2021, he won the WCI [Weapons and Complex Integration] PAD Bronze Award in recognition of the study of the formation of high purity uranium via laser induced thermal decomposition. He is a member of APS, MRS, TMS, ACS, AVS, ASM International, and Sigma Xi.

Education

Ph.D., Materials Sciences and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 1998
M.S., Materials Sciences and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 1994
Ph.D., Physics and Mathematics, Tomsk State University, Russia, 1982
M.S., Theoretical Physics, Odessa State University, Ukraine, 1977 (Magna Cum Laude)

Publications

2026 1 publication

A. Landa, L. Burakovsky, P. Söderlind, L. Yang, B. Sadigh, J. Roehling, and J.T. McKeown, An Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Study of Key Thermodynamic Input Parameters for Computer Simulation of U-6Nb Solidification, Appl. Sci. 16 (2026) 5189. https://doi.org/10.3390/app16115189

2025 1 publication

A. Landa, P. Söderlind, J. Roehling, and J.T. McKeown, "Thermodynamics of Liquid Uranium from Atomistic and Ab Initio Modeling," Appl. Sci. 15 (2025) 896.

2024 1 publication

A. Landa, P. Söderlind, E.E. Moore and A. Perron, “Thermodynamics and Magnetism of SmFe12 Compound Doped with Zr, Ce, Co and Ni: An Ab Initio Study," Metals 14 (2024) 59.

2022 1 publication

A. Landa, P. Söderlind, E.E. Moore and A. Perron, “Thermodynamics and Magnetism of SmFe12 Compound Doped with Co and Ni: An Ab Initio Study," Appl. Sci. 12(10) (2022) 4860.

2021 1 publication

A. Landa, J.E. Klepeis, R.E. Rudd, K.J. Caspersen, and D.A. Young, “Analytic Binary Alloy Volume–Concentration Relations and the Deviation from Zen’s Law,” Appl. Sc. 11(13) (2021) 6231.

2020 2 publications

A. Landa, P. Söderlind, E.E. Moore, and A. Perron, “Thermodynamics and Magnetism of YCo5 Compound Doped with Fe and Ni: An Ab Initio Study,” Appl. Sci. 10(17) (2020) 6037.
A. Landa, P. Söderlind, and A. Wu, "Phase Stability in U-6Nb Alloy Doped with Ti from the First Principles Theory," Appl. Sci. 10(10) (2020) 3417.

2018 2 publications

A. Landa, P. Söderlind, D. Parker, D. Åberg, V. Lordi, A. Perron, P.E.A. Turchi, R.K. Chouhan, D. Paudual, and T. Lograsso, "Thermodynamics of the SmCo5 Compound Doped with Fe and Ni: an ab initio study," Journal of Alloys and Compounds 765 (2018) 659.
A. Landa, P. Söderlind, I.I. Naumov, J.E. Klepeis, and L. Vitos, "Kohn Anomaly and Phase Stability in Group VB Transition Metals," Computation 6(2) (2018) 29.

2017 1 publication

A. Landa and P. Söderlind, "First-principles Phase Stability at High Temperatures and Pressure in Nb90Zr10 alloy," Journal of Alloys and Compounds 690 (2017) 647.

2014 1 publication

A. Landa, P. Söderlind, and L. H. Yang, "Ab initio Phase Stability at High Temperatures and Pressures in the V-Cr System," Physical Review 82 (2014) 020101(R).

2013 1 publication

A. Landa, P. Söderlind, and P.E.A. Turchi, "Density-Functional Study of U-Mo, Np-Mo, Pu-Mo, and Am-Mo Alloys," Journal of Nuclear Materials 434 (2013) 31.

2011 2 publications

A. Landa, P. Söderlind, and P.E.A. Turchi, "Density-Functional Study of U-Mo and U-Zr Alloys," Journal of Nuclear Materials 414 (2011) 132.
A. Landa, P. Söderlind, P.E.A. Turchi, L. Vitos, O.E. Peil, and A.V. Ruban, "Density-Functional Study of BCC Pu-U, Pu-Np, Pu-Am, and Pu-Cm Alloys," Journal of Nuclear Materials 408 (2011) 61.

2010 1 publication

A. Landa, P. Söderlind, O.I. Velikokhatnyi, I.I. Naumov, A.V. Ruban, O.E. Peil, and L. Vitos, "Alloying-Driven Phase Stability in Group VB Transition Metals Under Compression," Physical Review B 82 (2010) 144114.

2009 4 publications

A. Landa, P. Söderlind, A.V. Ruban, O.E. Peil, and L. Vitos, "Stability in BCC Transition Metals: Madelung and Band-Energy Effects due to Alloying," Physical Review Letters 103 (2009) 235501.
A. Landa, P. Söderlind, P.E.A. Turchi, L. Vitos, and A. Ruban, "Density-Functional Study of Zr-based Actinide Alloys: 2. U-Pu-Zr System," Journal of Nuclear Materials 393 (2009) 141.
A. Landa, P. Söderlind, P.E.A. Turchi, L. Vitos, and A. Ruban, "Density-Functional Study of Zr-based Actinide Alloys," Journal of Nuclear Materials 385 (2009) 68.
A. Landa, P. Söderlind, and P.E.A. Turchi, "Density-Functional Study of the U-Zr System," Journal of Alloys and Compounds 478 (2009) 103.

2007 1 publication

A. Landa, P. Söderlind, and L. Vitos, "Density-functional Calculations of alpha-Pu-Ga(Al) Alloy," Journal of Alloys and Compounds 444-445 (2007) 296.

2006 2 publications

A. Landa, J. Klepeis, P. Söderlind, I. Naumov, O. Velikokhatnyi, L. Vitos, and A. Ruban, "Fermi Surface Nesting and Pre-martensitic Softening in V and Nb at High Pressures," Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 18 (2006) 5079.
A. Landa, J. Klepeis, P. Söderlind, I. Naumov, O. Velikokhatnyi, L. Vitos, and A. Ruban, "Ab Initio Calculations of Elastic Constants of BCC V-Nb System at High Pressure," Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids" 67 (2006) 2056.

2004 2 publications

A. Landa and P. Söderlind, "First-Principles Calculations of Stability of delta-Pu-Am Alloys," Journal of Alloys and Compounds 376 (2004) 62.
A. Landa, P. Söderlind, A. Ruban, L. Vitos, and L. Pourovskii, "First-Principles Phase Diagram of the Ce-Th System," Physical Review B, 70 (2004) 224210.

2003 2 publications

A. Landa and P. Söderlind, "Stability of delta-Pu Alloys from First Principles Theory," Journal of Alloys and Compounds 354 (2003) 99.
A. Landa, P. Söderlind, and A. Ruban, "Monte Carlo Simulations of the Stability of delta-Pu," Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 15 (2003) L371.

2002 1 publication

A. Landa, A. I. Landa, C.-C. Chang, P. N. Kumta, L. Vitos, and I. A. Abrikosov, "Phase Stability of Li(Mn(100-x)Cox)O2 Oxides: an Ab Initio Study," Solid State Ionics 149 (2002) 209.

2000 2 publications

A. Landa, P. Wynblatt, E. Johnson and U. Dahmen, "Computer Simulation on Pb/Al Interfaces," Acta Materialia 48 (2000) 2557.
A. Landa, P. Wynblatt, D. J. Siegel, J. B. Adams, O. N. Mryasov, and X. -Y. Liu, "Development of Glue Type Potentials for the Al-Pb System: Phase Diagram Calculation," Acta Materialia 48 (2000) 1753.

1999 1 publication

A. Landa, P. Wynblatt, A. Girshick, V. Vitek, A. Ruban, and H. Skriver, "Development of Finnis-Sinclair Type Potentials for Pb-Bi-Ni Systems - II. Application to Surface Co-segregation," Acta Materialia 47 (1999) 47.

1998 3 publications

A. Landa, A. Ruban, P. Wynblatt, H. Skriver, A. Girshick, and V. Vitek, "Co-segregation at the Surface of Pb-Bi-Ni Alloys: Combined Ab Initio and Monte Carlo Study," Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 10 (1998) 5717.
A. Landa, Wynblatt, A. Girshick, V. Vitek, A. Ruban, and H. Skriver, "Development of Finnis-Sinclair Type Potentials for Pb, Pb-Bi, and Pb-Ni Systems: Application to Surface Segregation, Acta Materialia 46 (1998) 3027.
A. Landa, H. Hakkinen, R.N. Barnett, P. Wynblatt, and U. Landman, Disordering of the Pb (110) Surface, Computational Materials Science 11 (1998) 245.

1996 2 publications

A. Landa and P. Wynblatt, Roughening of the Pb (110) Surface: Combined Monte Carlo and Molecular-Dynamics Study, Computational Materials Science 7 (1996) 257.
A. Landa, Molecular Dynamics Study of Disordering, Roughening, and Premelting of the Pb (110) Surface, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 205-207 (1996) 767.

1995 1 publication

A. Landa, H. Hakkinen, R.N. Barnett. P. Wynblatt, and U. Landman, Equilibrium Interphase-Interfaces and Premelting of the Pb(110), Physical Review B 51 (1995) 10972.

1991 1 publication

A. Landa, A.A. Yuryev, A.V. Ruban, E.G. Gurskaya, Yu. K. Kovneristyi, and N.A. Vatolin, Pseudopotential Calculation of Thermodynamic Properties and Glass Transition Temperatures of Binary Ni-Al Alloys, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 3 (1991) 9220.

1981 1 publication

A. Landa, V.E. Panin and M.F. Zhorovkov, The Pseudopotential Method and Thermodynamics of Eutectic Systems, Physica Status Solidi (b) 108 (1981) 113.