Compressing Atoms with high pressure

[sunspot]

Picture a very hot high-pressure taffy of atoms similar to the earth's mantle. To begin the analysis, the temperature and pressure are high enough where all chemical bonds are broken. The distinct atoms will be crowding and pushing against it each other ionizing their outer most electrons. Next, let us decrease the volume substantially. Since atoms are mostly space, as electron clouds, the loss of volume will mean less volume for the electron clouds, resulting in lower atomic orbitals overlapping. The logical result should be the overlapping orbital electrons repulsion ionizing, and then gradually reorganizing themselves to share the overlapping orbitals. This process will be called ionization sharing.

 

If compress further, eventually we will reach a point where the electron repulsion/ionization energy will be near that of the nuclear force. The logical result will be the disintegration of larger atoms into smaller atoms. The smaller atoms by ionization sharing their electrons fairly early in the compression do not hold/attract electrons tight enough to receive as much direct nuclear damage at the higher pressure. Does anyone has an idea what would is the largest atomic nuclei that can exit without electrons. Oxygen should be stable and maybe a little higher.

[Sisyphus]

If put under pressure that is greater than electron repulsion, I don't see why it would ionize. Wouldn't it just act like a neutron star, such that the atom collapses, and protons combine with electrons to form a core of pure neutrons? And since this pressure is exerted by the surrounding atoms, they too collapse, being under similar pressure, and the two nuclei merge into one. The core of a neutron star is assumed to be essentially one gigantic nucleus consisting entirely of neutrons, hence the name. So I guess the answer would be that the only limit is where the compressive forces become so great that the mass collapses into a black hole... or very, very large.

[sunspot]

The reason it would ionize is due to the overlap of the electron clouds. The overlap implies the electrons sharing the overlapping orbitals. This might be visualized as loosely analogous to chemical bonding within inner orbitals, which overlap continuosly within large volumes of atoms. Therefore the electrons are no longer physically connected to only the original atom, but can now circulate beyond the atom. If ionization means complete isolation of an electron from the original atom, the circulation takes care of that. New electrons may replace the old (sharing) but the original is ionized (repulsion ionization). The circulation/sharing should magnetic add and lower the repulsion between the electrons.

 

If the final goal of extreme compression is neutron density, continuity would imply atomic distengration into smaller and smaller atoms.

[sunspot]

The answer that Sisyphus gave was appropriate to matter compressed to where the electrons clouds/orbitals are essentially gone and the nuclei, if any are left, are very close together. The state of atomic compression I was talking about is when the electron clouds/orbitals are still viable and large atoms still have many electrons. This state of matter is more in the range of what one might expect to find within the mantle of a planet, many levels of compression away from neutron density.

[insane_alien]

Do you mean something like metallic hydrogen? I think this would happen to all the elements at electron degeneracy pressures. it is not ionization. just matter forced to bond metallicly instead of covalently or ionicly.