Conductivity and dissociation in liquid metallic hydrogen and implications for planetary interiors

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Mohamed Zaghoo, Isaac F Silvera

Abstract

Liquid metallic hydrogen (LMH) is the most abundant form of condensed matter in our solar planetary structure. The electronic and thermal transport properties of this metallic fluid are of fundamental interest to understanding hydrogen's mechanism of conduction, atomic or pairing structure, as well as the key input for the magnetic dynamo action and thermal models of gas giants. Here, we report spectrally resolved measurements of the optical reflectance of LMH in the pressure region of 1.4-1.7 Mbar. We analyze the data, as well as previously reported measurements, using the free-electron model. Fitting the energy dependence of the reflectance data yields a dissociation fraction of 65 ± 15%, supporting theoretical models that LMH is an atomic metallic liquid. We determine the optical conductivity of LMH and find metallic hydrogen's static electrical conductivity to be 11,000-15,000 S/cm, substantially higher than the only earlier reported experimental values. The higher electrical conductivity implies that the Jovian and Saturnian dynamo are likely to operate out to shallower depths than previously assumed, while the inferred thermal conductivity should provide a crucial experimental constraint to heat transport models.

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Citations

May 12, 2018·Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter : an Institute of Physics Journal·Isaac F Silvera, Ranga Dias
Aug 18, 2018·Science·Peter M CelliersRussell J Hemley
Oct 6, 2018·Science·Michele K DoughertyDavid J Southwood
Sep 11, 2020·Nature·Bingqing ChengMichele Ceriotti
May 2, 2019·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Giovanni RilloCarlo Pierleoni
Jan 30, 2020·Advanced Science·Shuqing JiangAlexander F Goncharov
May 16, 2018·Physical Review. E·Mohamed Zaghoo
Apr 2, 2019·Physical Review Letters·M ZaghooG W Collins
Oct 10, 2020·The Journal of Chemical Physics·Hajime Tanaka
Jun 22, 2021·Physical Review Letters·Sebastiaan van de BundGraeme J Ackland
Jul 11, 2021·The Review of Scientific Instruments·Benedict J HeinenOliver T Lord
Mar 29, 2020·The Journal of Physical Chemistry. B·Richard C Remsing, Michael L Klein

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