Scientists of the National Center for Physics and Mathematics (NCFM) studied the properties of carbon dioxide at a pressure higher than the pressure inside the Earth’s core. A molecule of “dry ice” was compressed four times. According to researchers, carbon dioxide plays an important role in physical and chemical processes in the earth’s crust, including those related to seismic phenomena: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, sudden releases of rocks and gas from mountain ranges, etc. The study of the properties of gases under extreme conditions provides an understanding of the processes in the bowels of both the Earth and other planets.

“A number of world-class results have already been obtained within the framework of the Scientific Program of the NCFM. For example, the isentrope (in pressure-density coordinates) of carbon dioxide in the pressure range from 1 to 5 Mbar was experimentally constructed for the first time in the world. Explosive magnetic generator of ultra-strong (up to 1000 T) magnetic fields MK-1, which has no analogues in the world, in a special configuration ensures the pressure of the megabar range in the studied substances, which are realized in the depths of the earth’s crust and giant planets”

Previously, in experiments, scientists compressed solid carbon dioxide to 1 Mbar. In nature, the surface pressure of the Earth’s core is close to 1 Mbar, in the center of the Earth – up to 3.5 Mbar. According to new studies, the difference between experimental data and calculations of how the density of solid carbon dioxide increases at ultrahigh pressure is visible. These data show the real behavior of the compressibility and electrical conductivity of carbon dioxide and make it possible to build a wide-range equation of state of matter more reliably.