Metals physics at ultrahigh pressure: Aluminum, copper, and lead as prototypes

New shock compression data for Al, Cu, and Pb in the pressure range 0.3--1 TPa (3--10 Mbar) have been combined with first-principles theory and earlier equation-of-state data to give the first self-consistent description of the thermodynamic states of metals at ultrahigh pressures. No evidence is found for a break in the slope of the shock Hugoniot of Al near 0.5 TPa, as claimed by Al'tshuler.