Study of Jupiter’s interior: Comparison of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 layer models

Abstract

With the goal of matching spacecraft measurements from Juno and Galileo missions, we construct ensembles of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 layer models for Jupiter’s interior. All except our two layer models can match the planet’s gravity field as measured by the Juno spacecraft. We find, however, that some model types are more plausible than others. In the best three layer models, for example, the transition from molecular to metallic hydrogen needs to be at ∼500 GPa while theory and experiments place this transition at ∼100 GPa. Four layer models with a single sharp boundary between core and mantle would be short-lived due to rapid convective core erosion. For this reason, we favor our five layer models that include a dilute core surrounded by a stably stratified core transition layer. Six layer models with a small compact core are also possible but with an upper limit of 3 Earth masses for such a compact core. All models assume a 1 bar temperature of 166.1 K, employ physical equations of state, and are constructed with the nonperturbative Concentric Maclaurin Spheroid (CMS) method. We analyze the convergence of this method and describe technical steps that are needed to make this technique so efficient that ensembles of models can be generated.