Related papers: Radial gradient of superionic hydrogen in Earth's …
We present results from ab initio simulations of liquid water-hydrogen mixtures in the range from 2 to 70 GPa and from 1000 to 6000 K, covering conditions in the interiors of ice giant planets and parts of the outer envelope of gas giant…
We consider the thermal structure and radii of strongly irradiated gas giant planets over a range in mass and irradiating flux. The cooling rate of the planet is sensitive to the surface boundary condition, which depends on the detailed…
Superionic hydrogen was previously thought to be an exotic state predicted and confirmed only in pure H2O ice. In Earth's deep interior, H2O exists in the form of O-H groups in ultra-dense hydrous minerals, which have been proved to be…
Many planets in the solar system and across the galaxy have hydrogen-rich atmospheres overlying more heavy element-rich interiors with which they interact for billions of years. Atmosphere-interior interactions are thus crucial to…
The improvements of the knowledge of the seismic structure of the inner core and the complexities thereby revealed ask for a dynamical origin. Sub-solidus convection was one of the early suggestions to explain the seismic anisotropy, but it…
As they keep cooling and contracting, Solar System giant planets radiate more energy than they receive from the Sun. Applying the first and second principles of thermodynamics, one can determine their cooling rate, luminosity, and…
Iron represents the principal constituent of the Earth's core, but its high-pressure melting diagram remains ambiguous. Here we present a simple analytical approach to predict the melting properties of iron under deep-Earth conditions. In…
Quantitative data on the solar wind, solar magnetic fields, solar eruptions, solar neutrinos, and on the planetary material orbiting the Sun all indicate the presence of an iron-rich solar interior and a neutron star at the core of the Sun.…
We study water-hydrogen mixtures under planetary interior conditions using ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. We determine the thermodynamic properties of various water-hydrogen mixing ratios at temperatures of 2000 and 6000 K for…
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…
The solid inner core of the Earth is predominantly composed of iron alloyed with several percent Ni and some lighter elements, Si, S, O, H, and C being the prime candidates. There have been a growing number of papers investigating C and H…
To aid in the physical interpretation of planetary radii constrained through observations of transiting planets, or eventually direct detections, we compute model radii of pure hydrogen-helium, water, rock, and iron planets, along with…
Water is abundant in natural environments but the form it resides in planetary interiors remains uncertain. We report combined synchrotron X-ray diffraction and optical spectroscopy measurements of H2O in the laser-heated diamond anvil cell…
In this work we generalize the notion of convective inhibition to apply in cases where there is an infinite reservoir of condensible species (i.e., an ocean). We propose a new model for the internal structure and thermal evolution of…
We discuss our current understanding of the interior structure and thermal evolution of giant planets. This includes the gas giants, such as Jupiter and Saturn, that are primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, as well as the "ice…
Silica, water and hydrogen are known to be the major components of celestial bodies, and have significant influence on the formation and evolution of giant planets, such as Uranus and Neptune. Thus, it is of fundamental importance to…
Inner core translation, with solidification on one hemisphere and melting on the other, provides a promising basis for understanding the hemispherical dichotomy of the inner core, as well as the anomalous stable layer observed at the base…
Water is an important component of exoplanets, with its distribution, i.e., whether at the surface or deep inside, fundamentally influencing the planetary properties. The distribution of water in most exoplanets is determined by yet-unknown…
An accurate pressure scale is a fundamental requirement to understand planetary interiors. Here, we establish a primary pressure scale extending to the multi-megabar pressures of the Earth's core, by combined measurement of the acoustic…
The Earth acts as a gigantic heat engine driven by decay of radiogenic isotopes and slow cooling, which gives rise to plate tectonics, volcanoes, and mountain building. Another key product is the geomagnetic field, generated in the liquid…