Hydrogen-Helium Mixtures at High Pressure

The properties of hydrogen-helium mixtures at high pressure are crucial to address important questions about the interior of Giant planets e.g. whether Jupiter has a rocky core and did it emerge via core accretion? Using path integral Monte Carlo simulations, we study the properties of these mixtures as a function of temperature, density and composition. The equation of state is calculated and compared to chemical models. We probe the accuracy of the ideal mixing approximation commonly used in such models. Finally, we discuss the structure of the liquid in terms of pair correlation functions.Comment: Proceedings article of the 5th Conference on Cryocrystals and Quantum Crystals in Wroclaw, Poland, submitted to J. Low. Temp. Phys. (2004

The Structure of Jupiter, Saturn, and Exoplanets: Key Questions for High-Pressure Experiments

We give an overview of our current understanding of the structure of gas giant planets, from Jupiter and Saturn to extrasolar giant planets. We focus on addressing what high-pressure laboratory experiments on hydrogen and helium can help to elucidate about the structure of these planets.Comment: Invited contribution to proceedings of High Energy Density Laboratory Astrophysics, 6. Accepted to Astrophysics & Space Science. 12 page

Condensed argon isentropic compression with ultrahigh magnetic field pressure: Experimental design. Post-shot report

This report continues the series of work devoted to experimental study of a high-dense condensed argon state. Remember that according to work of Kwon et. al., hexagonal close-packed structure is profitable in terms of energy rather than face-centered argon structure (stable with zero pressure). What is most interesting and intriguing here is the issue of possible argon metallization, when it is compressed up to the densities more than 9.17 g/cm{sup 3}. In the experiment of 1995 (the arrangement and data are described in a cited reference) the authors recorded appearance of conductivity in argon, which is non-conductive in the initial state, when it is compressed more than a factor of four. The peak value of argon specific conductivity recorded in this experiment did not exceed 10 (Ohm x cm){sup {minus}1}. This value of conductivity is characteristic of semiconductors, but not metals, which have 10{sup 4} (Ohm x cm){sup {minus}1}. At this stage of the work the main attention is paid to recording of argon conductive state and studying the possibilities of multiframed radiography of the sample in the compressed state

Thermodynamic and electrical properties of laser-shocked liquid deuterium

Liquid deuterium at high pressure and temperature has been observed to undergo significant electronic structural changes. Reflectivity and temperature measurements of liquid deuterium up to around 70 GPa were obtained using a quartz standard. The observed specific heat of liquid deuterium approaches the Dulong-Petit limit above 1 eV. Discussions on specific heat indicate a molecular dissociation below 1 eV and fully dissociated above 1.5 eV. Also, the electrical conductivity of deuterium estimated from reflectivity reaches ~1.3 × 105 (Ω⋅m)-1, proving that deuterium in this condition is a conducting degenerate liquid metal and undergo an insulator-metal transition. The results from specific heat, carrier density and conductivity agreed well with each other, which might be a reinforcement of the insulator-metal transition and the molecular dissociation. In addition, a new correction method of reflectivity in temperature calculation was proposed to improve the accuracy of temperature results. A new “dynamic calibration” was introduced in this work to make the experiments simpler and more accurate