[tt] the physics arXiv blog

[Eugen Leitl]

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From: the physics arXiv blog <howdy at arxivblog.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:33:45 -0500 (CDT)
To: eugen at leitl.org
Subject: the physics arXiv blog
Reply-To: the physics arXiv blog <howdy at arxivblog.com>


[1]the physics arXiv blog

   [2]Diamonds in the sky: a miner's guide

   Posted: 15 Apr 2008 12:46 AM CDT

   [3]Diamonds in the sky 

   Astronomers have recently wondered whether carbon might form a
   supercooled liquid under the huge pressures that exist in side
   carbon-rich white dwarf stars and even inside medium-sized gaseous
   planets such as neptune and uranus. If that's the case, then small
   disturbances in the liquid could trigger the formation of diamonds the
   size of automobiles.

   The trouble is that nobody has been able to create these conditions on
   Earth so the way in which nucleation might occur is more or less
   unknown.

   Now Daan Frenkel and pals from the University of Amsterdam in The
   Netherlands say that computer simulations of the behaviour of several
   thousand carbon atoms under these circumstances have given us the
   first inkling of how nucleation occur. And the odds are that it's a
   tricky process to set in motion.

   Applying these results to astrophysical bodies gives two  insights,
   both of which are bad news for diamond hunters.

   First,  nucleation may be so rare that "not a single diamond could
   have nucleated in a Uranus-sized body during the life of the
   universe."

   And second, the appropriate conditions may be common in certain white
   dwarf stars.

   Either way, these diamonds are outta bounds for the foreseeable
   future.

   Ref: [4]arxiv.org/abs/0804.1671: State-of-the-art models for the Phase
   Diagram of Carbon and Diamond Nucleation

   [5][arXivblog?i=sb2M7v] 
   [6][arXivblog?i=Sy0iZJG] [7][arXivblog?i=GxAhQGG]
   [8][arXivblog?i=p855Spg] [9][arXivblog?i=fc6HoiG]
   [10][arXivblog?i=LPao7dg] [11][arXivblog?i=jScc1oG]
   [12][arXivblog?i=9kTWvbg] [13][arXivblog?i=Mkfd5AG] 
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References

   1. http://arxivblog.com/
   2. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/arXivblog/~3/270484866/
   3. http://arxivblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/diamond.JPG
   4. http://arxiv.org/abs/0804.1671
   5. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/arXivblog?a=sb2M7v
   6. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/arXivblog?a=Sy0iZJG
   7. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/arXivblog?a=GxAhQGG
   8. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/arXivblog?a=p855Spg
   9. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/arXivblog?a=fc6HoiG
  10. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/arXivblog?a=LPao7dg
  11. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/arXivblog?a=jScc1oG
  12. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/arXivblog?a=9kTWvbg
  13. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/arXivblog?a=Mkfd5AG
  14. http://arxivblog.com/
  15. http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailunsub?id=8632699&key=kesJ612ZsV
  16. http://feeds.feedburner.com/arXivblog
  17. http://feeds.feedburner.com/arXivblog

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-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
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