MINeralogical DIversity in (eXo)planets Interiors – MIN-DIXI

The diversity of planets in our solar system as well as in exoplanets is opening an exciting field of research, with important questions regarding their structure, evolution, composition, and surface habitability. During the early stage of a planet, the primordial energy released is responsible for complete or partial melting of the planet. For a telluric planet, the chemical exchanges between the metallic and the silicate parts in the first million years will determine the large-scale structure, the internal dynamic as well as the atmospheric composition in the next billions of years.
These different early processes can be constrained by Mineral Physics data on solid or liquid silicates and metals under extreme pressure and temperature conditions. The different processes are anchored on what we know of our own planet, the Earth. Extending this scenario to other planets or exoplanets requires chemical and microscopic constraints and in particular extensive databases under pressure, temperature, and composition ranges beyond those of the usual Earth’s centered reference frame.
This collaborative project gathers four groups with complementary expertise in order to constrain the differentiation scenarios and to characterize the thermodynamic, mechanical and electromagnetic properties of relevant geomaterials under exoplanetary interior conditions. We will rely on innovative dynamic compression experiments coupled with in-situ X-ray diagnostics and advanced first-principles numerical simulations with the aim of providing fundamental mineralogical data to bring constraints on the structure and evolution of telluric planets and exoplanets.