Construction of a thermodynamic potential for the water ices VII and X

We employ a combination of density functional theory (DFT), molecular dynamics (MD), and a variety of advanced postprocessing methods to construct an analytic thermodynamic potential (free energy) for ices VII and X. In particular, the temperature-dependent part of the free energy function is constructed using entropy data obtained via the spectrum of vibrational modes from the MD simulations. Conceptional challenges due to the partial absence of stable zero-temperature states and proton disorder are overcome by performing calculations of representative crystalline states combined with a three-stage fitting procedure of data from MD simulations and static DFT calculations. The influence of the exchange-correlation functional is extensively discussed, and a comparison with available experiments is made as well and generally shows good agreement. This work is of significant importance for astrophysical applications, such as the interior modeling of dense icy planets and moons.