Under extreme pressures, matter defies the rules of physics as we know it.

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Physicists have a pretty good handle on how stuff behaves on the surface of the Earth. But a lot of matter in the universe exists outside this narrow band of relatively low temperatures and pressures. Inside planets and stars, the crushing force of gravity begins to overwhelm the electromagnetic and nuclear forces that keep atoms apart and maintain the shapes of molecules.

What happens next? Scientists (including a consortia of researchers at the NSF’s Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures​​) are just starting to figure that out. They use a variety of tools (including some humongous lasers) to simulate planetary cores and see what happens. A few standout findings so far:

Water can become a hot black ice that conducts electricity: https://www.quantamagazine.org/black-…

Hydrogen gas can be compressed down into a shiny metal: https://www.newscientist.com/article/…

Sodium (a soft, silvery metal at atmospheric pressure) can turn transparent: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases…

Presented by the Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures (CMAP) at the University of Rochester,
a National Science Foundation (NSF) Physics Frontier Center, Award PHY-2020249 https://www.rochester.edu/cmap

What happens under extreme pressures deep with planets also influences their ability to foster life. Check out our videos about the search for Earth-like worlds beyond our solar system”

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