معرفی
Pierre Hirel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at the Faculty of Sciences and Technologies, University of Lille, France. He is a member of the UMET (Materials and Transformations Unit, CNRS UMR 8207), where he conducts research on the mechanical behavior of complex materials using atomic-scale simulations.
His research interests span materials physics, computational modeling, dislocations, grain boundaries, diffusion, and plasticity in ceramics and minerals, particularly those relevant to Earth's mantle. He employs advanced simulation techniques including molecular dynamics, density functional theory (DFT), and empirical interatomic potentials to study defect structures and mechanical properties under extreme conditions.
The recent publications reflect a strong focus on perovskite-type oxides (e.g., SrTiO₃, BaTiO₃, MgSiO₃ bridgmanite), forsterite (Mg₂SiO₄), and rock-salt materials, with emphasis on dislocation dynamics, grain boundary complexions, and diffusion mechanisms. His work bridges geophysics and materials science, contributing to understanding mantle rheology and deformation mechanisms at the atomic level.
- Scientific Awards: No awards listed in the provided text.
Pierre Hirel has advised at least one doctoral student, Konstantinos Thomaidis, whose thesis focused on water signatures in mantle xenoliths. He has secured research funding through major projects such as ANR, ERC, and Interreg, as indicated by the laboratory’s project portfolio. He is the developer of Atomsk, an open-source tool for atomic system manipulation, widely used in the computational materials community.
He is part of the Plasticity Research team at UMET and actively collaborates with researchers such as Philippe Carrez and Patrick Cordier. His work involves multiscale modeling approaches, connecting atomistic simulations with continuum mechanics frameworks.
