Volume 71 of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry represents an extensive review of the
material presented by the invited speakers at a short course on Theoretical and Computational
Methods in Mineral Physics held prior (December 10-12 2009) to the Annual fall meeting of the
American Geophysical Union in San Francisco California. The meeting was held at the Doubletree
Hotel & Executive Meeting Center in Berkeley California. Contents:Density functional theory of
electronic structure: a short course for mineralogists and geophysicistsThe Minnesota density
functionals and their applications to problems in mineralogy and geochemistryDensity-functional
perturbation theory for quasi-harmonic calculationsThermodynamic properties and phase relations
in mantle minerals investigated by first principles quasiharmonic theoryFirst principles
quasiharmonic thermoelasticity of mantle mineralsAn overview of quantum Monte Carlo
methodsQuantum Monte Carlo studies of transition metal oxidesAccurate and efficient
calculations on strongly correlated minerals with the LDA+U method: review and
perspectivesSpin-state crossover of iron in lower-mantle minerals: results of DFT+U
investigationsSimulating diffusionModeling dislocations and plasticity of deep earth
materialsTheoretical methods for calculating the lattice thermal conductivity of
mineralsEvolutionary crystal structure prediction as a method for the discovery of minerals and
materialsMulti-Mbar phase transitions in mineralsComputer simulations on phase transitions in
iceIron at Earth's core conditions from first principles calculationsFirst-principles molecular
dynamics simulations of silicate melts: structural and dynamical propertiesLattice dynamics
from force-fields as a technique for mineral physicsAn efficient cluster expansion method for
binary solid solutions: application to the halite-silvite NaCl-KCl systemLarge scale
simulationsThermodynamics of the Earth's mantle
