Simulation model for molecular hydrogen under high pressure
Monday, March 24, 2014 - 07:00
in Physics & Chemistry
Some experiments are really difficult to perform in practice. To gain a detailed understanding of the behaviour of molecular hydrogen (H2), for example, we would have to produce such high pressures as those occurring within the core of gaseous planets like Jupiter and Saturn or inside stars. If such conditions cannot be created, an alternative method is to simulate them on the computer, but the model has to be accurate. A group of research scientists from the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste used a simulation model that is far more accurate than previously used, and carried out an experiment to test a hypothesis about the behaviour of hydrogen that is splitting the scientific community.