  The melting curve of aluminium has been determined from 0 to ~150 GPa using
first principles calculations of the free energies of both the solid and
liquid. The calculations are based on density functional theory within the
generalised gradient approximation using ultrasoft Vanderbilt pseudopotentials.
The free energy of the harmonic solid has been calculated within the
quasiharmonic approximation using the small-displacement method; the free
energy of the liquid and the anharmonic correction to the free energy of the
solid have been calculated via thermodynamic integration from suitable
reference systems, with thermal averages calculated using ab-initio molecular
dynamics. The resulting melting curve is in good agreement with both static
compression measurements and shock data.
