Metal-Insulator Transitions in Dense Hydrogen: Equations of State, Phase Diagrams and Interpretation of Shock-Compression Experiments

Abstract

First-principles formulations of the equations of state for hydrogen in metallic and insulator phases are presented, leading to a phase diagram predicting first-order metal-insulator transitions in dense hydrogen. The theory explicitly takes into account the effects of strong electron-ion coupling near the transitions as well as those of lowering or elimination of the atomic and/or molecular levels due to plasma screening. It is shown that the results of recent shock-compression experiments prove consistent with such first-order insulator-to-metal transitions. These observations predict a discontinuous distribution of density and resistivity with a large magnetic Reynolds number near the Jovian surface; the latent heat through the metal-to-insulator transitions is estimated.