IN THE NEWS – Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures

Melting and transport properties of Al2⁢O3 at extreme conditions

February 28, 2025

November 8, 2024

M. Ghosh, S. X. Hu, E. Blackman, T. Suer, S. Zhang write in Physical Review B, "The high-pressure temperature phase diagram and transport properties of materials are of broad interest to planetary sciences and high-energy-density sciences and applications." READ MORE

Interior and Gravity Field Models for Uranus Suggest a Mixed-composition Interior: Implications for the Uranus Orbiter and Probe

February 28, 2025

January 30, 2025

Z. Lin, S. Seager and B. P. Weiss write in The Planetary Science Journal, "The interior composition and structure of Uranus are ambiguous. It is unclear whether Uranus is composed of fully differentiated layers dominated by an icy mantle or has smooth compositional gradients." READ MORE

Phase separation of planetary ices explains nondipolar magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune

February 28, 2025

November 25, 2024

Dr. Burkhardt Militzer writes in PNAS, "The Voyager spacecraft discovered that the ice giants Uranus and Neptune have nondipolar magnetic fields, defying expectations that a thick interior layer of planetary ices would generate strong dipolar fields." READ MORE

Might Uranus And Neptune Have Deep, Multi-Layer Oceans?

February 28, 2025

February 14, 2025

Dr. Burkhardt Militzer talks in Science Friday, about his recent research based on computer simulations of fluids hints that the planets could contain vast multi-layered oceans, as much as thousands of miles deep. READ MORE

Magnetic disorder of Uranus and Neptune explained

November 27, 2024

UC Berkeley Professor Burkhard Militzer shares great news: "Phase separation of planetary ices explains nondipolar magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune." View NY Times article View press release View talk Watch Adam Frank discuss this discovery and more on MSNBC

A view of the planet Earth from outer space.

A new theory for how oceans form on other worlds

Adam Frank explores how the study of exoplanets is transforming our understanding of ocean formation.

From fusion to exoplanets: How to squeeze matter with light

November 10, 2023

Adam Frank writes in Big Think, "Scientists are studying ultra-high-pressure regimes in the Universe, not through traditional means like physical compression, but by using lasers. The Laboratory for Laser Energetics at the University of Rochester uses a powerful 60-beam Omega laser system to deliver concentrated energy to targets, mimicking the conditions of exoplanet interiors and star centers."

CMAP Summer School for Undergraduates concludes inaugural on campus program

CMAP hosted a one-week residential program for undergraduates from colleges and universities across the country to learn more about the physics of extreme states of matter.

Second CMAP Annual Meeting

May 24, 2023

The second CMAP Annual Meeting, hosted at the University of Rochester on River Campus, was a gathering of the CMAP team partner organizations. We welcomed guests from California State University Northridge; University of Chicago; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; University of Illinois at Chicago; University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Sandia National Laboratories; University of California, Santa Cruz; Imperial College London; and University of Oxford. VIEW PHOTOS

Jupiter at its core remains a mystery to science

Adam Frank writes in Big Think, "For decades, planetary science was firm on the fact that Jupiter has a rocky core. New data extracted directly from the king of planets by the Juno spacecraft challenged that long-held standard."

Flash Center moves to Rochester, advances cutting-edge physics research

January 6, 2023

January 6, 2023

The Flash Center for Computational Science offers researchers worldwide access to a computer code that simulates phenomena in astrophysics, high-energy-density science, and fusion research. READ MORE

The Universe Is More in Our Hands Than Ever Before

January 3, 2023

January 3, 2023

Adam Frank writes in The Atlantic, "But across its millennia-long history, astronomy has always been a science of separation." READ MORE