<div class="cal_desc_title">Harvard Physics Colloquium<br><br>Recreating
Core States of Giant Planets in the Laboratory, A New Generation of
Condensed Matter Science<br>Gilbert Collins<br>Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory<br>(Jefferson 250 Tea served in Jefferson 450 @ 3:30 pm)</div>
<div class="cal_desc_medium">
<br>Nov 16, 2009<br>
4:15p
- 5:15p<br>
</div>
<span class="cal_small-italics"><br>Description</span>
A breakthrough in exploring the behavior of materials at high
compressions, to 1000-fold initial density, is underway thanks to
experimental developments associated with achieving inertially confined
fusion in the laboratory. The material states existing deep inside
giant planets and brown dwarfs, and the hot-dense plasmas in stars like
the Sun, are becoming accessible in the laboratory. Recent experiments
show that at even a fraction of these compressions material behavior
becomes somewhat exotic, with helium transforming to a metal at ~2
g/cc, fluid carbon being a polymeric metal up to 2 TPa (20 Mbar or 20
million atmospheres pressure), and diamond exhibiting remarkable
strength when "isentropically" compressed to 800 GPa (8 Mbar). These
capabilities allow us to explore the nature of solids to several TPa,
complex chemistry to 100 TPa (1 Gbar), and the nature of helium and
hydrogen in the deep interiors of Jupiter and even super-giant
exoplanets.<br>
<span class="cal_small-italics"><br>Web site:</span>
<a class="cal_list_internal-link" href="http://www.physics.harvard.edu/">www.physics.harvard.edu</a><br>
<span class="cal_small-italics">Contact name:</span>
Dayle Maynard<br>
<span class="cal_small-italics">Contact e-mail:</span>
<a href="mailto:maynard@physics.harvard.edu">maynard@physics.harvard.edu</a><br>
<span class="cal_small-italics">Contact phone:</span>
617.495.2872<br>
<span class="cal_small-italics">Source Calendar:</span>
Physics Monday Colloquia <br clear="all"><br><br>-- <br>Sarah T. Stewart-Mukhopadhyay<br>John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Natural Sciences<br>Dept. of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Harvard University<br><br>Google Voice 617.863.0423<br>
<a href="mailto:sstewart@eps.harvard.edu">sstewart@eps.harvard.edu</a><br><a href="http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~planets/sstewart/">http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~planets/sstewart/</a><br>