Shuai Zhang headshot.

Shuai Zhang

he/him/his

Staff Scientist, Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE)

PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 2016

Office Location
200A Laboratory for Laser Energetics
Telephone
(585) 275-5374

Google Scholar

ORCID

Research Overview

We combine rigorous first-principles electronic structure methods with large-scale molecular dynamics and machine learning to advance extreme matter studies in inertial confinement fusion and planetary sciences. Spanning micro-to-mesoscales, our work bridges theory and experiment to explore the physics and chemistry of materials under high-energy-density conditions, focusing on critical behaviors such as phase transitions, kinetic pathways, equations of state, and transport properties in both equilibrium and non-equilibrium regimes.

Research Interests

  • High Pressure/High Energy Density Physics
  • Computational Materials Science
  • Earth and Planetary Science

Selected Publications

  • “Thermally induced structural competitiveness and metastability of body-centered-cubic iron under nonequilibrium conditions,” S. Zhang, A. Panjwani, P. Xiao, M. Ghosh, T. Ogitsu, Y. Ping, and S. X. Hu, Phys. Rev. B 111, 224106 (2025).
  • “Toward an accurate equation of state and B1-B2 phase boundary for magnesium oxide to TPa pressures and eV temperatures,” Shuai Zhang, R. Paul, S. X. Hu, and M. A. Morales, Phys. Rev. B 107, 224109 (2023).
  • “First-principles equation of state of CHON resin for inertial confinement fusion applications,” Shuai Zhang, Valentin V. Karasiev, Nathaniel Shaffer, Deyan I. Mihaylov, Katarina Nichols, Reetam Paul, R.M.N. Goshadze, Maitrayee Ghosh, Joshua Hinz, Reuben Epstein, Stefan Goedecker, and S. X. Hu, Phys. Rev. E 106, 045207 (2022).
  • “Nature of the bonded-to-atomic transition in liquid silica to TPa pressure,” Shuai Zhang, Miguel A. Morales, Raymond Jeanloz, Marius Millot, S. X. Hu, and Eva Zurek, J. Appl. Phys. 131, 071101 (2022).
  • “Species Separation and Hydrogen Streaming Upon Shock Release From Polystyrene Under Inertial Confinement Fusion Conditions,” S. Zhang and S. X. Hu, Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 105001 (2020).
  • “Equation of State of Warm-Dense Boron Nitride Combining Computation, Modeling, And Experiment,” S. Zhang, A. Lazicki, B. Militzer, L. Yang, K. Caspersen, J. Gaffney, M. Däne, J. Pask, W. Johnson, A. Sharma, P. Suryanarayana, D. Johnson, A. Smirnov, P. Sterne, D. Erskine, R. London, F. Coppari, D. Swift, J. Nilsen, A. Nelson, and H. Whitley, Phys. Rev. B 99, 165103 (2019).
  • “Auxiliary-Field Quantum Monte Carlo Calculations of the Structural Properties of Nickel Oxide,” S. Zhang, F. Malone, and M. Morales, J. Chem. Phys. 149, 164102 (2018).
  • “Path Integral Monte Carlo Simulations of Dense Carbon-Hydrogen Plasmas,” S. Zhang, B. Militzer, L. Benedict, F. Soubiran, K. Driver, and P. Sterne, J. Chem. Phys. 148, 102318 (2018).

Awards

  • Outstanding Reviewer Award, AGU/JGR: Solid Earth, 2025
  • Emerging Leaders, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 2022
  • Computing Grand Challenge Award, LLNL, 2018, 2019
  • Physics Division Spot Award, LLNL, 2018