(1) to understand
the deep interiors of planets, especially the Earth's mantle and core, through
quantitative study of the materials likely to be present in such environments.
(2) to use pressure as a probe of the structure, bonding,
energetics, and physical properties of solids to improve fundamental understanding of
high-pressure chemical and physical phenomena.
(3) to develop techniques for measuring samples during
experiments, thus revealing the crystal structure, the volume, the strength at conditions
corresponding to great depths in the Earth.