This paper presents calculations on xenon at high pressure. We have employed recent developments in electron-band theory and the theory of fluids to demonstrate that the experimental solid isotherm, liquid shock compression Hugoniot, and high-energy atomic-beam-scattering data are all consistent and in agreement with theoretical predictions. Electron-band theory predicts that xenon will transform from an insulator to a metal at a pressure in excess of 1.3 Mbar.

• Received 24 July 1979

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.21.1658