Crystal thermomechanics

A fundamental problem in material science is understanding how the materials properties are related to the crystal structure as well as to the chemical composition of the unit cell. In addition, defects are structural imperfections that interrupt the crystal ordering and also influence the macroscopic behaviour, which, however, is still incompletely understood. Starting from the fundamental Goldstone theorem of spontaneously broken states, we study defect rich crystals and elaborate a microscopic theory for the coupled evolution of strain deformations and diffusive species transport.