PhD project: Energy Transport through Earth's Deep Interior

Project description

The transport of energy through Earth’s deep interior defines our planet’s dynamics, from the magnetic field that protects the surface to the flowing liquids deep beneath it.  In order the understand this transport, laboratory measurements at the crushing pressures and blistering temperatures of Earth's rocky mantle and metallic core are required.  In this project you will replicate these high pressure, high temperature conditions in the laboratory and perform high speed experiments of energy transport in materials at these conditions.  You will use cutting edge techniques including X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs) at international user facilities and in local Edinburgh laboratories.  You will discover how the fundamental physics of matter at extremes impacts the global dynamics of the Earth, and similar planets such as Mars, over the planets' lifetimes. The student will use the diamond anvil cell high pressure device to generate extreme pressures, and various heating methodologies to create high temperatures, using dynamic observations to study heat transport, electrical transport, and fluid flow inside the high pressure samples.

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