Modeling Earth's interior from atomic to global scale

Geophysics stands on a synergistic tripod consisting of seismology, geodynamics, and mineral physics. It advances by close cooperation between these fields that can be computationally very intensive. The role of mineral physics is to provide information on mineral properties to interpret seismic tomography and provide input for advanced and more refined geodynamics simulations. Computational mineral physics has contributed significantly to the integration of these fields. It has complemented experiments by expanding the pressure and temperature range in which properties can be obtained and has offered access to atomic-scale phenomena that suggested new interpretations of experimental and seismological data.

This presentation gives an overview of the cooperation between computational mineral physics, seismology, and geodynamics. This interdisciplinary dialog has resulted in a modeling field that starts on the atomic and ends on a global scale. A striking and recent example is the spin crossover in ferropericlase (e.g. [1,2]), a quantum phenomenon that manifests on global seismic tomographic models.