Shock Compression of Deuterium and the Interiors of Jupiter and Saturn

Abstract

Recently, deuterium has been the focus of a high level of experimental and theoretical activity, sparked by a disagreement on the experimental value of the maximum compression along the principal Hugoniot. The behavior of deuterium at megabar pressures is not well understood. It is of great interest to understand how the current uncertainty on the hydrogen/deuterium equation of state (EOS) affects the inferred structures of Jupiter and Saturn. In particular, the mass of a core of heavy elements (other than H and He) and the total mass of those heavy elements in these two planets are quite sensitive to the EOS of hydrogen and constitute important clues to their formation process. We present a study of the range of structures allowed for Jupiter and Saturn by the current uncertainty in the hydrogen EOS and astrophysical observations of the two planets. An improved experimental understanding of hydrogen at megabar pressures and better determinations of the gravitational moments of both planets are necessary to put tight bounds on their internal structure.