The Earth’s Core: The Engine of Our Planet
- Speaker
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Dario Alfè, Ph.D.Professor of Physics, University College London
Università di Napoli Federico II
The 2025 lecture series in physics is “Matter Under Pressure.” This series will investigate the fascinating behaviors of matter when subjected to extreme conditions. From the intense forces found in planetary cores to the violent dynamics of cosmic events, speakers will discuss how pressure can alter the physical and chemical properties of materials. The lectures will cover a range of topics, including the creation of new materials, the study of exotic states of matter in stars and the implications for understanding both Earth and exoplanetary environments.
2025 Lecture Series Themes
Biology: Mechanisms of Evolution
Mathematics and Computer Science: Discovering Mathematics Through Computers
Presidential Lectures are free public colloquia centered on four main themes: Biology, Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science, and Neuroscience and Autism Science. These curated, high-level scientific talks feature leading scientists and mathematicians and are intended to foster discourse and drive discovery among the broader NYC-area research community. We invite those interested in the topic to join us for this weekly lecture series.
Three thousand kilometers beneath our feet lies a ball of churning liquid metal as thin as water and as hot as the sun’s surface: Earth’s outer core. The center of the ball, the inner core, is solid and about two-thirds the size of the moon. The inner core is constantly growing as the planet cools. Convective motions in the outer core generate Earth’s magnetic field, shielding the atmosphere from being stripped away by the solar wind. Heat rising from the core also drives plate tectonics, reshaping Earth’s surface.
The history of our planet is determined by the fundamental properties of the core, such as its temperature, composition, thermal and electrical conductivity and others. In this Presidential Lecture, physicist Dario Alfè will describe how we can now calculate these properties using computational tools based on quantum mechanics and statistical physics.
About the Speaker
Alfè is a condensed matter physicist who develops and applies first-principle computational tools to study high-pressure and high-temperature properties of materials, mainly in the context of planetary interiors. Born and raised in Napoli, Italy, he received his Ph.D. from SISSA in Trieste, Italy. After post-doctoral stints at Keele University in England and University College London, in 2006, he joined the faculty of University College London. Since 2018, he has also been a faculty member of the Università di Napoli Federico II in Italy.