David P. Landau

David Paul Landau ( born June 22, 1941 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American physicist who deals with computer simulation in statistical physics.

Landau studied at Princeton University with a bachelor's degree in 1963 and from Yale University with a master's degree in 1965 and his doctorate at Werner Wolf 1967. As a post-doctoral researcher, he conducted research for the CNRS in Grenoble and was in 1968/69 Lecturer in the Yale University. In 1969 he became assistant professor and later professor at the University of Georgia.

He initiated Monte Carlo studies of phase transitions. In the eulogy for the Rahman Prize is its development of accurate Monte Carlo sampling techniques and Renormierungsgruppentechniken, highlighted his studies of the kinetics of aggregation and gelation in polymers, as well as numerous contributions to the development and application of molecular dynamics and kinetic Monte Carlo methods. He also studied magnetic solids and phase transitions in absorbed monolayers and binary alloys. With Kurt Binder, he wrote a standard work on Monte Carlo simulation techniques in statistical physics.

In 2002 he received the Aneesur -Rahman Prize and in 1987 the Jesse W. Beams Award. In 1988, he was with the Humboldt Research Award with Kurt Binder at the University of Mainz and in 1975 at the University of Saarland in 1974 and a visiting scientist at the Nuclear Research Center Jülich.

He is the editor of Computer Physics Communications.

Writings

• With Kurt Binder A Guide to Monte Carlo Simulations in Statistical Physics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge [ua ] 2000, ISBN 0-521-65366-5; 3rd Edition, 2009, ISBN 978-0-521-76848-1