Felipe Gonzalez Web Page

Felipe González Cataldo

Project Scientist at Burkhard Militzer's group
Department of Earth and Planetary Science
University of California, Berkeley
United States

Ph.D. 2015 Universidad de Chile (Physics)
B.S. 2009 Universidad de Chile (Physics)

Contact info:

Department of Earth and Planetary Science
University of California, Berkeley, United States
301 McCone Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-4767

e-mail: f_gonzalez (at) berkeley (dot) edu

Planetary interiors / high pressure physics

I am an Assistant Project Scientist in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science at UC Berkeley, working in Burkhard Militzer’s research group. My work focuses on the physics of high-pressure and high-temperature matter to understand planetary interiors.

I earned my Ph.D. in Physics from Universidad de Chile in 2015. Using density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics simulations, I model matter at the atomic level to determine equations of state under extreme conditions—especially where experimental data is unavailable. This allows us to construct more accurate models of planetary structure and evolution, both within our solar system and beyond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgWp0WFTr9k

https://youtu.be/gMaKhXkihGQ

31. Temperature and conductivity in shock compressed bridgmanite MgSiO₃ up to 2 TPa,
    M. F. Huff, M. C. Marshall, L. E. Hansen, N. Ozaki, T. Suer, Z. Lin, D. N. Polsin, D. J. Erskine, F. González-Cataldo et al.
    Physical Review B 113, 134104 (2026).

30. Applicability of the Mie-Grüneisen Equation of State Model to Warm Dense Matter Conditions.,
    F. González-Cataldo and Burkhard Militzer.
    Contributions to Plasma Physics e70086 (2026).

29. Electride behavior at high pressure in silicon and other elements in solid and liquid phases.,
    Salma Ahmed, F. González-Cataldo, V.N. Robinson, and Burkhard Militzer.
    Physical Review B 112, 165111 (2025). Available on the arXiv.

28. Experimental Pathways for Detecting Double Superionicity in Planetary Ices.,
    Kyla de Villa, F. González-Cataldo and Burkhard Militzer.
    Contributions to Plasma Physics e70015 (2025). Available on the arXiv.

27. Diamond under extremes.,
    Alex C. Li, Boya Li, F. González-Cataldo, Robert E. Rudd, Burkhard Militzer, Eduardo M. Bringa, Marc A. Meyers.
    Materials Science and Engineering: R: Reports 161, 100857 (2024).

26. Double superionicity in icy compounds at planetary interior conditions.,
    Kyla de Villa, F. González-Cataldo and Burkhard Militzer.
    Nature Communications 14, 7580 (2023). Supplementary material:
25. Ab initio determination of iron melting at terapascal pressures and Super-Earths core crystallization.,
    F. González-Cataldo and Burkhard Militzer.
    Physical Review Research 5, 033194 (2023). (EOS tables: )
24. Structural and Thermodynamic Properties of Magnesium-Rich Liquids at Ultrahigh Pressure,
    Felipe González-Cataldo and Burkhard Militzer.
    Minerals 13, 885 (2023).
23. The Homogeneous Mixing of MgO and H₂O at Extreme Conditions,
    Tanja Kovačević, Felipe González-Cataldo, and Burkhard Militzer.
    Contributions to Plasma Physics e202300017 (2023). (Cover Highlight)
22. Miscibility of Rock and Ice in the Interiors of Water Worlds,
    Tanja Kovačević, Felipe González-Cataldo, Sarah T. Stewart, and Burkhard Militzer.
    Scientific Reports, 12, 13055 (2022).
21. The phase diagrams of beryllium and magnesium oxide at megabar pressures,
    Jizhou Wu, Felipe González-Cataldo, François Soubiran, and Burkhard Militzer.
    J. Phys.: Condens. Matter, 34, 144003 (2022).
20. An exact solution for a particle in a velocity-dependent potential,
    Julio M. Yáñez, Gonzalo Gutiérrez, Felipe González-Cataldo, David Laroze.
    American Journal of Physics, 89, 1103 (2021).
19. Model of Ramp Compression of Diamond from Ab Initio Simulations,
    F. González-Cataldo, B.K. Godwal, Kevin Driver, Raymond Jeanloz, and Burkhard Militzer.
    Physical Review B, 104, 134104 (2021). Available on the arXiv.
18. High-pressure phase diagram of beryllium from ab initio free-energy calculations,
    Jizhou Wu, Felipe González-Cataldo, Burkhard Militzer.
    Physical Review B, 104, 014103 (2021). Available on the arXiv.
17. First-Principles Equation of State Database for Warm Dense Matter Computation,
    Burkhard Militzer, Felipe González-Cataldo, Shuai Zhang, Kevin P. Driver, Francois Soubiran.
    Physical Review E, 103, 013203 (2021). Available on the arXiv.
16. A model for defect formation in materials exposed to radiation,
    Sergio Davis, Felipe González-Cataldo, Gonzalo Gutiérrez, Gonzalo Avaria, Biswajit Bora, Jalaj Jain, José Moreno, Cristian Pavez, and Leopoldo Soto.
    Matter and Radiation at Extremes, 6, 015902 (2021).
15. Nonideal mixing effects in warm dense matter studied with first-principles computer simulations,
    Burkhard Militzer, Felipe González-Cataldo, Shuai Zhang, Heather D. Whitley, Damian C. Swift, and Marius Millot.
    Journal of Chemical Physics, 153, 184101 (2020). Available on the arXiv.
14. Thermal and Pressure Ionization in Warm, Dense MgSiO₃ Studied with First-Principles Computer Simulations,
    F. González-Cataldo and Burkhard Militzer.
    AIP Conference Proceedings, 2272, 090001 (2020). Available on the arXiv.
13. Equation of State of Hot, Dense Magnesium Derived with First-Principles Computer Simulations,
    Felipe González-Cataldo, François Soubiran, and Burkhard Militzer.
    Physics of Plasmas, 27, 092706 (2020). Available on the arXiv.
12. Path Integral Monte Carlo and Density Functional Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Warm, Dense MgSiO₃,
    F. González-Cataldo, François Soubiran, Henry Peterson and Burkhard Militzer.
    Physical Review B, 101, 024107 (2020). Available on the arXiv.
11. Magnesium Oxide at Extreme Temperatures and Pressures Studied with First-Principles Simulations,
    François Soubiran, Felipe González-Cataldo, Kevin P. Driver, Shuai Zhang, and Burkhard Militzer.
    Journal of Chemical Physics, 151, 214104 (2019). Available on the arXiv.
10. Normal Modes in Graphene for Different Geometries,
    Gabriel Cáceres, Felipe González-Cataldo and Gonzalo Gutiérrez.
    Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1043, 012041 (2018).
9. Melting curve of Si by means of the Z-method,
   Felipe González-Cataldo, Fernando Corvacho and Gonzalo Gutiérrez.
   Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1043, 012038 (2018).
8. Sliding down an arbitrary curve in the presence of friction,
   F. González-Cataldo, Gonzalo Gutiérrez and Julio Yáñez.
   American Journal of Physics 85, 108 (2017). Available on the arXiv.
   Supplementary Material
7. Temperature estimators in computer simulation,
   César Jara, F. González-Cataldo, Sergio Davis and Gonzalo Gutiérrez.
   Journal of Physics: Conferences Series, 720, 012003 (2016).
6. Z method calculations to determine the melting curve of silica at high pressures,
   F. González-Cataldo, Sergio Davis and Gonzalo Gutiérrez.
   Journal of Physics: Conferences Series, 720, 012032 (2016).
5. Melting curve of SiO₂ at multimegabar pressures: implications for gas giants and super-Earths,
   F. González-Cataldo, Sergio Davis and Gonzalo Gutiérrez.
   Scientific Reports, 6, 26537 (2016).
4. Stability of iron crystal structures at 0.3–1.5 TPa,
   B. K. Godwal, F. González-Cataldo, A. K. Verma, L. Stixrude, and R. Jeanloz.
   Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 409, 299 (2015).
3. Ab Initio Free Energy Calculations of the Solubility of Silica in Metallic Hydrogen,
   F. González-Cataldo, Hugh Wilson and B. Militzer.
   The Astrophysical Journal, 787, 79 (2014).
2. Inelastic Collisions and Hypervelocity Impacts at Nanoscopic Level: A Molecular Dynamics Study,
   G. Gutiérrez, S. Davis, C. Loyola, J. Peralta, F. Gonzalez, Y. Navarrete and F. Gonzalez-Wasaff.
   Molecular Dynamics - Theoretical Developments and Applications in Nanotechnology and Energy, Chapter 12 (2012) ISBN: 978-953-51-0443-8.
1. Las Palmeras Molecular Dynamics: A Flexible and Modular Molecular Dynamics Code,
   S. Davis, C. Loyola, F. González, J. Peralta,
   Computer Physics Communications, 181, 2126 – 2139, 2010.