title: Melting curve of SiO2 at multimegabar pressures: implications for gas giants and super-Earths.
abstract: Ultrahigh-pressure phase boundary between solid and liquid SiO2 is still quite unclear. Here we present predictions of silica melting curve for the multimegabar pressure regime, as obtained from first principles molecular dynamics simulations. We calculate the melting temperatures from three high pressure phases of silica (pyrite-, cotunnite-, and Fe2P-type SiO2) at different pressures using the Z method. The computed melting curve is found to rise abruptly around 330 GPa, an increase not previously reported by any melting simulations. This is in close agreement with recent experiments reporting the α-PbO2-pyrite transition around this pressure. The predicted phase diagram indicates that silica could be one of the dominant components of the rocky cores of gas giants, as it remains solid at the core of our Solar System's gas giants. These results are also relevant to model the interior structure and evolution of massive super-Earths.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: González-Cataldo
authors.affiliation: Comisión Chilena de Energía Nuclear, Casilla 188-D, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez