Related papers: Radial gradient of superionic hydrogen in Earth's …

The superionic state is a phase of matter in which liquid-like ionic mobility coexists with a solid crystalline lattice. Recently identified in Earth's inner core (IC), this state has attracted considerable attention for its unique kinetic…

Earth's inner core (IC) serves as a reservoir for volatile elements, which significantly affects its behavior and properties. Recent studies suggest that superionicity can be observed in ice and iron hydrides under high-pressure and…

There has been a long debate on the stable phase of iron under the Earth's inner core conditions. Because of the solid-liquid coexistence at the inner core boundary, the thermodynamic stability of solid phases directly relates to their…

The formation of the giant planets in our solar system, and likely a majority of giant exoplanets, is commonly explained by the accretion of nebular hydrogen and helium onto a large core of terrestrial-like composition. The fate of this…

The Fe-Ni alloy is believed to be the main component of Earth's core. Yet, a comprehensive understanding of phase equilibria near the melting point of this alloy under core conditions is still lacking, leaving the effect of nickel…

The Earth's core consists of a solid ball with a radius of 1221 Km, surrounded by a liquid shell which extends up to 3480 Km from the centre of the planet, roughly half way towards the surface (the mean radius of the Earth is 6373 km). The…

{\em Ab initio} techniques based on density functional theory in the projector-augmented-wave implementation are used to calculate the free energy and a range of other thermodynamic properties of liquid iron at high pressures and…

The crystal structure of iron in the Earth's inner core remains debated. Most recent experiments suggest a hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) phase. In simulations, it has been generally agreed that the hcp-Fe is stable at inner core pressures…

We determined the metal/silicate partition coefficients of hydrogen and carbon, DH and DC, simultaneously under typical conditions of Earth's core formation. Experiments demonstrate that both DH and DC diminish in the presence of carbon and…

Light elements in the iron-rich core of the Earth are important indicators for the evolution of our planet. Their amount and distribution, and the temperature in the core, are essential for understanding how the core and the mantle interact…

Recent observations of Jupiter and Saturn provided by spacecraft missions, such as Juno and Cassini, compel us to revise and improve our models of giant planet interiors. Even though hydrogen and helium are by far the dominant species in…

Observational advancements are leading to increasingly precise measurements of super-Earth masses and radii. Such measurements are used in internal structure models to constrain interior compositions of super-Earths. It is now critically…

Earth's inner core exhibits an unusually high Poisson's ratio and noticeable elastic anisotropy. The mechanisms responsible for these features are critical for understanding the evolution of the Earth but remain unclear. This study…

Most water in the universe may be superionic, and its thermodynamic and transport properties are crucial for planetary science but difficult to probe experimentally or theoretically. We use machine learning and free energy methods to…

Using ab initio simulations we investigate whether water ice is stable in the cores of giant planets, or whether it dissolves into the layer of metallic hydrogen above. By Gibbs free energy calculations we find that for pressures between 10…

Metastable phases can lead to multistep nucleation processes, influencing the liquid-to-solid transition in various systems. In this study, we investigate the homogeneous nucleation of iron's crystalline phases under Earth's inner core…

By plotting empirical chemical element abundances on Earth relative to the Sun and normalized to silicon versus their first ionization potentials, we confirm the existence of a correlation reported earlier. To explain this, we develop a…

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 ever-expanding catalog of detected super-Earths calls for theoretical studies of their properties in the case of a substantial water layer. This work considers such water planets with a range of masses and water mass fractions (2 to 5…

The properties and stability of hydrous phases are key to unraveling the mysteries of the water cycle in Earth's interior. Under the deep lower mantle conditions, hydrous phases transition into a superionic state. However, the influence of…