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Silane (SiH4) is found to (partially) decompose at pressures above 50 GPa at room temperature into pure Si and H2. The released hydrogen reacts with surrounding metals in the diamond anvil cell to form metal hydrides. A formation of rhenium…
Aims. We study the formation and water delivery of planets in the habitable zone (HZ) around solar-type stars. In particular, we study different dynamical environments that are defined by the most massive body in the system. Methods. First…
Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, and together with silica, they are major components of giant planets. Exploring the reactivity and state of helium and silica under high pressure is of fundamental importance for…
Equilibrium properties of hydrogen-helium mixtures under conditions similar to the interior of giant gas planets are studied by means of first principle density functional molecular dynamics simulations. We investigate the molecular and…
Water ice is abundant both astrophysically, for example in molecular clouds, and in planetary systems. The Kuiper belt objects, many satellites of the outer solar system, the nuclei of comets and some planetary rings are all known to be…
We present large scale electronic structure based molecular dynamics simulations of liquid methane at planetary conditions. In particular, we address the controversy of whether or not the interior of Uranus and Neptune consists of diamond.…
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, and its properties under conditions of high temperature and pressure are crucial to understand the interior of of large gaseous planets and other astrophysical bodies. At ultra high…
The high-pressure melting curves of metals provide simple and useful tests for theories of melting, as well as important constraints for the modeling of planetary interiors. Here, we present an experimental technique that reveals the latent…
The formation of the Earth's core is a consequence of planetary accretion and processes in the Earth's interior. The mechanical process of planetary differentiation is likely to occur in large, if not global, magma oceans created by the…
The gas-phase chemistry of water in protoplanetary disks is analyzed with a model based on X-ray heating and ionization of the disk atmosphere. Several uncertain processes appear to play critical roles in generating the column densities of…
A simple method for detection of melting event in laser-heated diamond anvil cells (DACs) is introduced. The melting is registered optically by the formation of spherical drops of the investigated material as heated in an inert pressure…
Silicon is present in interstellar dust grains, meteorites and asteroids, and to date thirteen silicon-bearing molecules have been detected in the gas-phase towards late-type stars or molecular clouds, including silane and silane…
In the giant impact theory for lunar origin, the Moon forms from material ejected by the impact into an Earth-orbiting disk. Here we report the initial results from a silicate melt-vapor equilibrium chemistry model for such impact-generated…
Several studies, observational and theoretical, suggest that planetary systems with only rocky planets should be the most common in the Universe. We study the diversity of planetary systems that might form around Sun-like stars in low-mass…
The accretion of a terrestrial body and differentiation of its silicate/oxide mantle from iron core provide abundant energy for heating its interior to temperatures much higher than the present day Earth. The consequences of differentiation…
The immiscibility of hydrogen-helium mixture under the temperature and pressure conditions of planetary interiors is crucial for understanding the structures of gas giant planets (e.g., Jupiter and Saturn). While the experimental probe at…
Photochemistry has the potential to substantially impact the atmospheric composition of exoplanets with consequences on the radiative transfer, thermal structure and dynamics of the atmospheres, particularly in UV-rich stellar environments.…
Here we investigate how small amounts of hydrogen (much smaller than the mass of the exoplanet) above a magma ocean on a rocky exoplanet may modify the atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric escape.We use a chemical model of a magma ocean…
The properties of hydrogen-helium mixtures at Mbar pressures and intermediate temperatures (4000 to 10000 K) are calculated with first-principles molecular dynamics simulations. We determine the equation of state as a function of density,…
As stellar compositions evolve over time in the Milky Way, so will the resulting planet populations. In order to place planet formation in the context of Galactic chemical evolution, we make use of a large ($N = 5\,325$) stellar sample…