Ultracondensed Matter by Dynamic Compression

Dynamic compression is an experimental technique with interdisciplinary uses, ranging from enabling the creation of ultracondensed matter under previously impossible conditions to understanding the likely cause of unusual planetary magnetic fields. Readers can now gain an intuitive understanding of dynamic compression; clear and authoritative chapters examine its history and experimental method, as well as key topics including dynamic compression of liquid hydrogen, rare gas fluids and shock-induced opacity. Through an up-to-date history of dynamic compression research, Nellis also clearly shows how dynamic compression addresses and will continue to address major unanswered questions across the scientific disciplines. The past and future role of dynamic compression in studying and making materials at extreme conditions of pressure, density and temperature is made clear, and the means of doing so are explained in practical language perfectly suited for researchers and graduate students alike.

Table of Contents:
Preface; Acknowledgments; 1. Introduction; 2. Basics of dynamic compression; 3. Generation of dynamic pressures; 4. Brief history of high-pressure research: 1643 to 1968; 5. Rare gas fluids; 6. Metallization of fluid hydrogen at 140 GPa; 7. Unusual magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune: metallic fluid H; 8. Shock-induced opacity in transparent crystals; 9. Metastable solid metallic hydrogen (MSMH); 10. Warm dense matter at shock pressures up to 20 TPa (200 Mbar); References; Index.

About the Author :
William Nellis is a Research Associate of the Department of Physics, Harvard University, Massachusetts, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, holder of the APS Duvall Award for Shock Compression Science, past-Chairman of the APS Topical Group on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter, past-President of the International Association of High Pressure Science and Technology and holder of its Bridgman Award. He has performed extensive dynamic compression research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, and published over 250 papers in various scientific journals.

Review :
'The book contains figures of high quality that enrich discussions of physical observations, theoretical concepts, and experimental methods. Schematics of the testing apparatus appropriate to each regime is particularly useful, as is the summary of applications and limitations of the early and recently developed experimental methods. The bibliography is notably comprehensive, consisting of on the order of 500 full references … In conclusion, the book Ultracondensed Matter by Dynamic Compression is strongly recommended as a reference work for researchers and students involved in the study of the high-pressure response of condensed matter. Summaries of experimental methods, an interesting and informative history of the field, and focused discussion on applications to metallic hydrogen are prominent and unique contributions of this book.' John D. Clayton, Contemporary Physics