Electronic properties and magnetism of iron at the Earth's inner core conditions

Abstract

We employ state-of-the-art ab initio simulations within the dynamical mean-field theory to study three likely phases of iron (hcp, fcc, and bcc) at the Earth's core conditions. We demonstrate that the correction to the electronic free energy due to correlations can be significant for the relative stability of the phases. The strongest effect is observed in bcc Fe, which shows a non-Fermi-liquid behavior, and where a Curie-Weiss behavior of the uniform susceptibility hints at a local magnetic moment still existing at 5800 K and 300 GPa. We predict that all three structures have sufficiently high magnetic susceptibility to stabilize the geodynamo.