Planetary Interiors Studied with Ab Initio Simulations
When
Where
Associate Professor
Depts. of Earth and Planetary Science and Astronomy
University of California, Berkeley
This talk will briefly review the interior structures of different types of planets. We illustrate how laboratory experiments and ab initio computer simulations can be used to characterize the properties of materials at extreme pressure and temperature conditions (10,000 K and 10 Mbar) that are present in planetary interiors. We describe our equation of state calculations for hydrogen-helium mixtures in giant planets and discuss our most recent model for Jupiter’s interior, which we put together in preparation for the arrival of NASA’s spacecraft Juno in July of this year. We then present results from simulations of planetary ices and discuss different interior models that may explain the unusual, quadrupolar magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune. We conclude by discussing simulation of iron alloys in the core of the Earth. Since the seminal work by Birch, it is known that light elements must be present in the inner and outer core. However, the actual composition of the light, alloying component has remained elusive. We provide one proposal to match the seismic observations in the Preliminary Reference Earth Model (PREM).