Melting and transport properties of Al2O3 at extreme conditions
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.”
Simultaneous Evolutionary Fits for Jupiter and Saturn Incorporating Fuzzy Cores
February 5, 2025
A. Sur, R. Tejada Arevalo, Y. Su, and A. Burrows write in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, “With the recent realization that there likely are stably stratified regions in the interiors of both Jupiter and Saturn, we construct new nonadiabatic, inhomogeneous evolutionary models with the same microphysics for each that result at the present time in respectable fits for all major bulk observables for both planets.”
Interior and Gravity Field Models for Uranus Suggest a Mixed-composition Interior: Implications for the Uranus Orbiter and Probe
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.”
Phase separation of planetary ices explains nondipolar magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune
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.”
Might Uranus And Neptune Have Deep, Multi-Layer Oceans?
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.
Magnetic disorder of Uranus and Neptune explained
UC Berkeley Professor Burkhard Militzer shares great news: “Phase separation of planetary ices explains nondipolar magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune.”
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Watch Adam Frank discuss this discovery and more on MSNBC
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
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.