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arXiv · 2602.23634

Ab initio electronic conductivity of Fe-bearing post-perovskite

Yihang Peng·Yupei Zhang·Shuai Zhang·Chenxing Luo·Donghao Zheng·Nelson Naveas·Xifan Wu·Jie Deng
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Abstract

The electrical conductivity of high-pressure silicates profoundly influences the interior dynamics of rocky planets. Employing the Kubo-Greenwood formalism, we perform ab initio calculations of electronic conductivity in Fe-bearing post-perovskite under super-Earth mantle conditions, up to 4000 K and 500 GPa. Electronic structures are obtained via many-body perturbation theory, incorporating dynamical screening and correlations among localized Fe-3d orbitals. In contrast to (Fe,Mg)O, for which metallization has been reported at comparable conditions, our results indicate that post-perovskite with Earth-like Fe contents is unlikely to metallize in super-Earth mantles via band-gap closure, yielding negligible low-frequency conductivity. Any substantial conductivity would require non-electronic mechanisms, such as thermally activated small-polaron hopping, which fall beyond the scope of band conduction.

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Yihang Peng, Yupei Zhang, Shuai Zhang, Chenxing Luo, Donghao Zheng, Nelson Naveas, Xifan Wu, Jie Deng. 2026-02-27. Ab initio electronic conductivity of Fe-bearing post-perovskite. https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.23634

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