. 24/7 Space News .
OUTER PLANETS
Come on in, the water is superionic
by Staff Writers
Livermore CA (SPX) Sep 24, 2021

LLNL scientists have developed a new approach using machine learning to study with unprecedented resolution the phase behaviors of superionic water found in ice giants Uranus and Neptune.

The interiors of Uranus and Neptune each contain about 50,000 times the amount of water in Earth's oceans, and a form of water known as superionic water is believed to be stable at depths greater than approximately one-third of the radius of these ice giants.

Superionic water is a phase of H2O where hydrogen atoms become liquid-like while oxygen atoms remain solid-like on a crystalline lattice. Although superionic water was proposed over three decades ago, its optical properties and oxygen lattices were only accurately measured recently in experiments by LLNL's Marius Millot and Federica Coppari, and many properties of this hot "black ice" are still uncharted.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have developed a new approach using machine learning to study the phase behaviors of superionic water with unprecedented resolution.

Buried deep within the core of planets, much of the water in the universe may be superionic. Understanding its thermodynamic and transport properties is crucial for planetary science but difficult to probe experimentally or theoretically.

Under the pressures and temperatures found in ice-giant planets, most of this water was predicted by First-Principles Molecular Dynamics (FPMD) simulations to be in a superionic phase. However, such quantum-mechanical simulations have traditionally been limited to short simulation times (10s of picoseconds) and small system size (100s of atoms), leading to significant uncertainty in the location of phase boundaries such as the melting line.

In experiments on superionic water, sample preparation is extremely challenging: hydrogen positions cannot be determined and temperature measurements in dynamical compression experiments are not straightforward. Often the experiments benefit from the guidance provided by quantum molecular dynamic simulations both during the design stage and for the interpretation of the results.

In the most recent research, the team made a leap forward in its ability to treat large system sizes and long-time scales by making use of machine learning techniques to learn the atomic interactions from quantum mechanical calculations. They then used that machine-learned potential to drive the molecular dynamics and enable the use of advanced free energy sampling methods to accurately determine the phase boundaries.

"We use machine learning and free energy methods to overcome the limitations of quantum mechanical simulations, and characterize hydrogen di?usion, superionic transitions and phase behaviors of water at extreme conditions," said LLNL physicist Sebastien Hamel, a co-author of a paper appearing in Nature Physics.

The team found that phase boundaries, which are consistent with the existing experimental observations, help resolve the fractions of insulating ice, di?erent superionic phases and liquid water inside of ice giants.

The construction of effective interaction potentials that retain the accuracy of quantum mechanical calculations is a difficult task. The framework that was developed here is general and can be used to discover and/or characterize other complex materials such as battery electrolytes, plastics and nanocrystalline diamond used in Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) capsules, as well as new phases of ammonia, salts, hydrocarbons, silicates and related mixtures that are relevant for planetary science.

"Our quantitative understanding of superionic water sheds light into the interior structure, evolution and magnetic fields of planets such as Uranus and Neptune and also of the increasing number of icy exoplanets," Hamel said.

Research paper


Related Links
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The million outer planets of a star called Sol


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


OUTER PLANETS
Mushballs stash away missing ammonia at Uranus and Neptune
Paris, France (SPX) Sep 20, 2021
Mushballs - giant, slushy hailstones made from a mixture of ammonia and water - may be responsible for an atmospheric anomaly at Neptune and Uranus that has been puzzling scientists. A study presented by Tristan Guillot at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2021 shows that mushballs could be highly effective at carrying ammonia deep into the ice giants' atmospheres, hiding the gas from detection beneath opaque clouds. Recently, remote observations at infrared and radio wavelengths have shown t ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

OUTER PLANETS
All-female crew in water-tank spaceflight study

Blue Origin unveils next flight, TMZ says Captain Kirk to be aboard

US must prepare now to replace International Space Station

Russian Gov't allocates $60Mln to build Soyuz for tourist flights

OUTER PLANETS
Glasgow Prestwick Spaceport announces Launch Partner

NASA to launch climate change-tracking Landsat 9 satellite

DLR is developing a Launch Coordination Center

Solar electric propulsion makes Psyche spacecraft go

OUTER PLANETS
NASA offers new website to look at Mars rover images

Mars habitability limited by its small size, isotope study suggests

Carbon dioxide reactor makes Martian fuel

Small stature limits Mars' ability to hold water, study finds

OUTER PLANETS
China's cargo craft docks with space station core module

China brings astronauts back, advances closer to "space station era"

Chinese astronauts return to Earth after 90-day mission

China prepares to launch Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft

OUTER PLANETS
Satellite maker Terran Orbital plans major plant in Florida

India to revise FDI policy for space sector, says ISRO chief Sivan

Adaptable optical communications to facilitate future low-earth orbit networks

SpaceX launches Starlink satellites into orbit from West Coast

OUTER PLANETS
NASA adviser blasts lack of congressional action on space traffic dangers

Nine ways AR and VR used on the International Space Station

Chinese game makers vow to cut effeminacy, limit underage players

Engineering researchers develop new explanation for formation of vortices in 2D superfluid

OUTER PLANETS
Cloud-spotting on a distant exoplanet

Cloudy days on exoplanets may hide atmospheric water

Webb Telescope to explore forming planetary systems

Observations in stellar factory indicates start of planet production

OUTER PLANETS
Come on in, the water is superionic

Mushballs stash away missing ammonia at Uranus and Neptune

A few steps closer to Europa: spacecraft hardware makes headway

Juno joins Japan's Hisaki satellite and Keck Observatory to solve "energy crisis" on Jupiter









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.