A Denser Hydrogen Inferred from First-Principles Simulations Challenges Jupiter's Interior Models
Fuente:
arXiv
Enregistré dans:
| Auteurs principaux: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Publié: |
2025
|
| Sujets: | |
| Accès en ligne: | |
| Tags: |
Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
|
| _version_ | 1866910233295585280 |
|---|---|
| author | Cozza, Cesare Nakano, Kousuke Howard, Saburo Xie, Hao Helled, Ravit Mazzola, Guglielmo |
| author_facet | Cozza, Cesare Nakano, Kousuke Howard, Saburo Xie, Hao Helled, Ravit Mazzola, Guglielmo |
| contents | First-principle modeling of dense hydrogen is crucial in materials and planetary sciences. Despite its apparent simplicity, predicting the ionic and electronic structure of hydrogen is a formidable challenge, and it is connected with the insulator-to-metal transition, a century-old problem in condensed matter. Accurate simulations of liquid hydrogen are also essential for modeling gas giant planets. Here we perform an exhaustive study of the equation of state of hydrogen using Density Functional Theory and quantum Monte Carlo simulations. We find that the pressure predicted by Density Functional Theory may vary qualitatively when using different functionals. The predictive power of first-principle simulations is restored by validating each functional against higher-level wavefunction theories, represented by computationally intensive variational and diffusion Monte Carlo calculations. Our simulations provide evidence that hydrogen is denser at planetary conditions, compared to currently used equations of state. For Jupiter, this implies a lower bulk metallicity (i.e., a smaller mass of heavy elements). Our results further amplify the inconsistency between Jupiter's atmospheric metallicity measured by the Galileo probe and the envelope metallicity inferred from interior models. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_12925 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | A Denser Hydrogen Inferred from First-Principles Simulations Challenges Jupiter's Interior Models Cozza, Cesare Nakano, Kousuke Howard, Saburo Xie, Hao Helled, Ravit Mazzola, Guglielmo Earth and Planetary Astrophysics Strongly Correlated Electrons Computational Physics First-principle modeling of dense hydrogen is crucial in materials and planetary sciences. Despite its apparent simplicity, predicting the ionic and electronic structure of hydrogen is a formidable challenge, and it is connected with the insulator-to-metal transition, a century-old problem in condensed matter. Accurate simulations of liquid hydrogen are also essential for modeling gas giant planets. Here we perform an exhaustive study of the equation of state of hydrogen using Density Functional Theory and quantum Monte Carlo simulations. We find that the pressure predicted by Density Functional Theory may vary qualitatively when using different functionals. The predictive power of first-principle simulations is restored by validating each functional against higher-level wavefunction theories, represented by computationally intensive variational and diffusion Monte Carlo calculations. Our simulations provide evidence that hydrogen is denser at planetary conditions, compared to currently used equations of state. For Jupiter, this implies a lower bulk metallicity (i.e., a smaller mass of heavy elements). Our results further amplify the inconsistency between Jupiter's atmospheric metallicity measured by the Galileo probe and the envelope metallicity inferred from interior models. |
| title | A Denser Hydrogen Inferred from First-Principles Simulations Challenges Jupiter's Interior Models |
| topic | Earth and Planetary Astrophysics Strongly Correlated Electrons Computational Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.12925 |