Diffuse density determination

Abstract

High Pressure Liquid iron at extreme pressure and temperature powers Earth's magnetic field, but its properties are not well constrained. Kuwayama et al. used diffuse x-ray scattering to determine the density of molten iron at conditions near those of Earth's outer core. The authors developed a new data analysis method to obtain these values, which can be combined with shock-wave observations to determine the thermal equation of liquid state for iron. The results help to constrain the amounts of alloying elements in Earth's core and provide a new strategy for measuring liquid density at high pressures. Phys. Rev. Lett. 124 , 165701 (2020).