The melting curve of iron from quantum mechanics calculations

The high-pressure melting curve of iron is of major importance to the Earth's sciences, as it provides a close estimate of the temperature of the Earth's core. Despite being studied experimentally for more than a decade and, more recently, using theoretical quantum mechanics techniques, there are still large discrepancies between different groups. In this article, we will describe our theoretical approach to the problem and discuss the reason of the discrepancies with other theoretical calculations. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.