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Ab Initio Calculation of the Miscibility Diagram for Hydrogen-Helium Mixtures
Manuel Schöttler1, Ronald Redmer1
1Institut für Physik, Universität Rostock, D-18051 Rostock, Germany.
Abstract:
We use finite-temperature density functional theory coupled to classical molecular dynamics simulation to calculate the miscibility gap of hydrogen-helium mixtures. The van der Waals density functional (vdW-DF) theory is used, which leads to lower demixing temperatures compared to computations using the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof functional. Our calculations suggest that current Jupiter models are most likely too hot to allow demixing in the interior. A Jupiter isentrope based on our vdW-DF data is presented. Our demixing phase diagram still predicts phase separation in Saturn, but in a significantly reduced fraction of its volume.
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