Theoretical evidence of H-He demixing under Jupiter and Saturn conditions

The immiscibility of hydrogen-helium mixture under the temperature and pressure conditions of planetary interiors is crucial for understanding the structures of gas giant planets (e.g., Jupiter and Saturn). While the experimental probe at such extreme conditions is challenging, theoretical simulation is heavily relied in an effort to unravel the mixing behavior of hydrogen and helium. Here we develop a method via a machine learning accelerated molecular dynamics simulation to quantify the physical separation of hydrogen and helium under the conditions of planetary interiors. The immiscibility line achieved with the developed method yields substantially higher demixing temperatures at pressure above 1.5 Mbar than earlier theoretical data, but matches better to the experimental estimate. Our results suggest a possibility that H-He demixing takes place in a large fraction of the interior radii of Jupiter and Saturn, i.e., 27.5% in Jupiter and 48.3% in Saturn. This indication of an H-He immiscible layer hints at the formation of helium rain and offers a potential explanation for the decrease of helium in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2024-10-02
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52868-4
Citations
18
Primary Topic
Astro and Planetary Science
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.97

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article

Theoretical evidence of H-He demixing under Jupiter and Saturn conditions

Xiaoxiang Yu, Qunchao Tong, Zengxiu Zhao, Yong Hou et al.
18 citations
Nature Communications
Astro and Planetary Science
5.97
article

Theoretical evidence of H-He demixing under Jupiter and Saturn conditions

Xiaoxiang Yu, Qunchao Tong, Zengxiu Zhao, Yong Hou, Yansun Yao, Dongdong Kang, Kaiguo Chen, Jiayu Dai, Qiyu Zeng, Yanming Ma, Bo Chen, Shen Zhang, Handong Wang, Fangyu Guo, Xiaoju Chang
article en
18 citations

Abstract

The immiscibility of hydrogen-helium mixture under the temperature and pressure conditions of planetary interiors is crucial for understanding the structures of gas giant planets (e.g., Jupiter and Saturn). While the experimental probe at such extreme conditions is challenging, theoretical simulation is heavily relied in an effort to unravel the mixing behavior of hydrogen and helium. Here we develop a method via a machine learning accelerated molecular dynamics simulation to quantify the physical separation of hydrogen and helium under the conditions of planetary interiors. The immiscibility line achieved with the developed method yields substantially higher demixing temperatures at pressure above 1.5 Mbar than earlier theoretical data, but matches better to the experimental estimate. Our results suggest a possibility that H-He demixing takes place in a large fraction of the interior radii of Jupiter and Saturn, i.e., 27.5% in Jupiter and 48.3% in Saturn. This indication of an H-He immiscible layer hints at the formation of helium rain and offers a potential explanation for the decrease of helium in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 15(1)
National University of Defense Technology (CN), Jilin University (CN), University of Saskatchewan (CA), Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics (CN), Jilin International Studies University (CN)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, California Institute of Technology, National Natural Science Foundation of China, NSAF Joint Fund, National Safety Academic Fund
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Astro and Planetary Science
5.97
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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