Metal-Insulator Transition in Solid Hydrogen

Abstract

The transition between compressed molecular hydrogen and metallic hydrogen is investigated from the point of view of a metal-insulator transition. By studying how the electronic states in metallic hydrogen change when nearest-neighbor protons are moved closer together it is found that the transition should occur at a pressure in the neighborhood of 3 Mbar. The metastability of metallic hydrogen at low pressures is investigated and it is found that at zero pressure and temperature metallic hydrogen would last only a fraction of a second.