Red Needle Sea

I am currently a PhD student at Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS, Canada) and an graduate student intern at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Livermore, CA, USA).

In my research I use first-principles theory (primarily density functional theory) and molecular dynamics to study the properties of matter such as nitrogen and carbon dioxide under extreme conditions (very high pressures and temperatures). My research involves predictions of high-pressure phase transitions such as dissociation in molecular fluids, melting curves, polymerization of molecular crystals, etc. I also use the same techniques to develop accurate equations of state for these materials. Lately, I’ve also ventured into developing software to predict new crystalline phases of materials and new methods to accurately calculate full free energies at finite-temperature.

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Below are links to my scientific publications (restricted access)

3. B. Boates & S.A. Bonev, “Electronic and structural properties of dense liquid and amorphous nitrogen” Phys. Rev. B 83, 174114 (2011).

2. B. Boates, S. Hamel, E. Schwegler, & S.A. Bonev, “Structural and optical properties of liquid CO2 for pressure up to 1 TPa” J. Chem. Phys. 134, 064504 (2011).

1. B. Boates & S.A. Bonev, “First-order liquid-liquid phase transition in compressed nitrogen” Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 015701 (2009).