Research Expertise and Interest
Saturn, structure and evolution of Jupiter, and extrasolar giant planets
Research Description
B. Militzer studies the interiors of giant planets with computer simulations in order to understand their structure and evolution. Since materials in planetary interiors are exposed to extreme temperature and pressure conditions that cannot yet be reached with laboratory experiments. B. Militzer instead relies on highly accurate simulations from first principles. He and collaborators recently predicted the existence of a massive core in Jupiter of 14 Earth masses.
In the News
Chrysalis, the Lost Moon That Gave Saturn Its Rings
Saturn hasn’t always had rings
What magnetic fields can tell us about life on other planets
Helium rain on Jupiter explains lack of neon in atmosphere
When the Galileo probe descended through Jupiter's atmosphere in 1995, it found neon to be one-tenth as abundant as predicted. This unexpected finding has led two UC Berkeley researchers to propose that this is due to a rain of helium that depletes Jupiter's layers of neon as well as helium.