The focus of our research in the field of crystal physics is on elastic and electromechanical properties of single crystals in a large temperature range. Our aim is the exploration and modelling of correlations between structure and properties of crystals.
Elasticity is a topic of great concern in earth sciences.
The state of the lower crust, mantle and core regions can only be investigated indirectly by seismic tomography. Great efforts were undertaken in the last years to explore the stability conditions of minerals which constitute the lower crust and the earth mantle. Valuable thermodynamical data could be obtained from the application of Landau theory to certain phase transitions and from lattice theoretical calculations of structure and physical properties. In this context the elastic constants of minerals play an important role, because they can be used to test the existing models or to calculate certain physical properties which are not directly accessible by experiment. Further, elastic constants and their temperature and pressure derivatives represent not only a highly sensitive probe for the detection of structural instabilities and phase transitions but their anomalies also offer valuable hints on their driving mechanisms.