Progress in warm dense matter study with applications to planetology

TLDR

Recent studies of iron and silica under planetary interior conditions provide essential insights into planetary composition and behavior. The paper reviews recent theoretical and experimental findings on iron and silica properties at planetary interior conditions. The study employs high‑energy laser‑driven XANES and quasi‑isentropic compression experiments at LULI, LLNL, and LIL, with results analyzed via first‑principles DFT simulations.

Abstract

We present an overview of some recent theoretical and experimental results obtained on the properties of iron and silica at conditions encountered in planetary interiors. The first part is concerned with the development of x-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy in dynamical experiments using high-energy lasers as a tool to investigate phase transitions and structural changes at extreme pressure–temperature conditions for these two key constituents. The second part focuses on the development of a quasi-isentropic compression technique to achieve the pressure–temperature conditions anticipated in planetary interiors (3–10 Mbar, 5000–8000 K). The experiments were performed using the LULI, LLNL and LIL high-energy lasers' facilities. The experimental results are analyzed using first-principle simulations based on density functional theory.