Nonadiabatic effects and excitonlike states during the insulator-to- metal transition in warm dense hydrogen

ID Fedorov and ND Orekhov and VV Stegailov, PHYSICAL REVIEW B, 101, 100101 (2020).

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.101.100101

The transition of molecular hydrogen to atomic ionized state with the increase of temperature and pressure poses still unresolved problems for experimental methods and theory. Here we analyze the dynamics of this transition and show its nonequilibrium nonadiabatic character overlooked in both interpreting experimental data and in theoretical models. The nonadiabatic mechanism explains the strong isotopic effect M. Zaghoo, R. J. Husband, and I. F. Silvera, Phys. Rev. B 98, 104102 (20E). and the large latent heat M. Houtput, J. Tempere, and I. F. Silvera, Phys. Rev. B 100, 134106 (2019). reported recently. We demonstrate the possibility of the formation of intermediate excitonlike molecular states at heating of molecular hydrogen that can explain the puzzling experimental data on reflectivity and conductivity during the insulator- to-metal transition.

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