Complexity and neutron star structure

We apply the statistical measure of complexity introduced by López-Ruiz, Mancini and Calbet (1995) [1] to neutron star structure. We continue the recent application of Sañudo and Pacheco (2009) [2] to white dwarfs. The interplay of gravity, the short-range nuclear force and the very short-range weak interaction shows that neutron stars, under the current theoretical framework, are ordered (low complexity) systems.     

Screened Thermonuclear Reaction Rates on Magnetar Surfaces

Improving Salpeter＇s method, we discuss the effect of superstrong magnetic fields （such as those of magnetars） on thermonuclear reaction rates. These most interesting reactions, including the hydrogen burning by the CNO cycle and the helium burning by the triple alpha reaction, are investigated as examples on the magnetar surfaces. The obtained result shows that the superstrong magnetic fields can increase the thermonuclear reaction rates by many orders of magnitude. The enhancement may have significant influence for further study research of the magnetars, especially for the x-ray luminosity observation and the evolution of magnetars.     

Dynamical response functions in correlated fermionic systems

Response functions in nuclear matter at finite temperature are considered beyond the usual Hartree-Fock plus random phase approximation (RPA) scheme. The contributions due to the propagator for the dressed nucleons and the corresponding vertex corrections are treated in a consistent way. For that purpose a semi-realistic Hamiltonian is developed with parameters adjusted to reproduce the nucleon self-energy as derived from realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions. For a scalar residual interaction the resulting response functions are very close to the RPA response functions. However, the collective modes, if present, get an additional width due to the coupling to multi-pair configurations. For isospin-dependent residual interactions we find strong modifications of isospin response functions due to multi-pair contributions in the response function. Such a modification can lead to the disappearance of collective spin or isospin modes in a correlated system and shall have an effect on the absorption rate of neutrinos in nuclear matter.     

Complete Gluonic Phase in Two-Flavour Colour Superconductivity

We study a typical complete gluonic phase （LGP） in two-flavour colour superconductivity （2SC） by calculating the essential cubic and quartic interfering term between the gluonic condensates （Az^（8）） and/Az^（6）） with a gauged NJL model. It is proven that the coefficients of the cubic interfering term and the vacuum contributions of the cubic and quartic interfering term are all equal to zeroes. The coefficients of the quartic interfering term and the /Az^（6）） ＇s quartic self-interaction term at stationary points of Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrell （LOFF） phase are calculated. Comparisons among the effective potentials of LOP, g2SC and LOFF phase indicate that LOP could be the genuine ground state of 2SC for some reasonable paxameters.     

Nonextensive effects on the phase structure of quantum hadrodynamics

In this Letter, we investigate nonextensive effects on phase transition in nuclear matter in the context Walecka many-body field theory. A difference is observed when the results calculated for the nuclear matter at vanishing baryon density is compared to those obtained through the standard Fermi-Dirac distribution. It is observed a dependence between the nonextensive parameter q and the coupling constants of the phase transition. A numerical relation for this thermodynamical dependence is also proposed.     

K0 Condensation in Hyperonic Neutron Star Matter

In the framework of the relativistic mean field theory, we investigate K^0 condensation along with K^- condensation in neutron star matter including the baryon octet. The results show that both K^0 and K^- condensations can occur well in the core of the maximum mass stars for relatively shallow optical potentials of K^- in the range of-100 MeV～ -160 MeV. With the increasing optical potential of K^-, the critical densities of K^- decrease and the species of baryons appearing in neutron stars become fewer. The main role of K^0 condensation is to make the abundances of particles become identical leading to isospin saturated symmetric matter including antikaons, nucleons and hyperons. K^- condensation is chiefly responsible for the softening of the corresponding equation of state, which leads to a large reduction in the maximum masses of neutron stars. In the core of massive neutron stars, neutron star matter including rich particle species, such as antikaons, nucleons and hyperons, may exist.     

Spontaneous symmetry breaking and response functions

We study the quantum phase transition occurring in an infinite homogeneous system of spin 1/2 fermions in a non-relativistic context. As an example we consider neutrons interacting through a simple spin-spin Heisenberg force. The two critical values of the coupling strength—signaling the onset into the system of a finite magnetization and of the total magnetization, respectively—are found and their dependence upon the range of the interaction is explored. The spin response function of the system in the region where the spin-rotational symmetry is spontaneously broken is also studied. For a ferromagnetic interaction the spin response along the direction of the spontaneous magnetization occurs in the particle-hole continuum and displays, for not too large momentum transfers, two distinct peaks. The response along the direction orthogonal to the spontaneous magnetization displays instead, beyond a softened and depleted particle-hole continuum, a collective mode to be identified with a Goldstone boson of type II. Notably, the random phase approximation on a Hartree-Fock basis accounts for it, in particular for its quadratic—close to the origin—dispersion relation. It is shown that the Goldstone boson contributes to the saturation of the energy-weighted sum rule for ≈25% when the system becomes fully magnetized (that is in correspondence of the upper critical value of the interaction strength) and continues to grow as the interaction strength increases.     

Effects of δ Meson on Thermal Protoneutron Star Matter

In the framework of the relativistic mean field theory, the effects of the δ meson on protoneutron star matter with hyperons at finite temperature are investigated. In thermal protoneutron star matter, the δ field potential increases with density first and then decreases. Fixing the density, the increase of the temperature suppresses the δ field potential. With the inclusion of the δ meson, the threshold densities for hyperons become lower and the abundance of trapped neutrinos decreases. The most important effect of the δ meson is to increase the abundance of hyperons in the inner core range of protoneutron stars. With the rise of the temperature, the density range where the δ meson plays an important role is narrowed and the effects of the δ meson are suppressed. Moreover, the protoneutron star mass and radius are nearly not affected by the δ meson     

Hot Nuclear Matter Equation of State and Finite Temperature Kaon Condensation

We perform a systematic calculation of the equation of state of asymmetric nuclear matter at finite temperature within the framework of the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approach with a microscopic three-body force. When applying it to the study of hot kaon condensed matter, we find that the thermal effect is more profound in comparison with normal matter, in particular around the threshold density. Also, the increase of temperature makes the equation of state slightly stiffer through suppression of kaon condensation.     

Nuclear symmetry energy effects in finite nuclei and neutron star

Within a relativistic mean-field model with nonlinear isoscalar–isovector coupling, we explore the possibility of constraining the density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy from a systematic study of the neutron skin thickness of finite nuclei and neutron star properties. We find the present skin data supports a rather stiff symmetry energy at subsaturation densities that corresponds to a soft symmetry energy at supranormal densities. Correlation between the skin of ²⁰⁸Pb and the neutron star masses and radii with kaon condensation has been studied. We find that ²⁰⁸Pb skin estimate suggest star radii that reveals considerable model dependence. Thus precise measurements of neutron star radii in conjunction with skin thickness of heavy nuclei could provide significant constraint on the density dependence of symmetry energy.     

Parity violation,the neutron radius of lead,and neutron stars

The neutron radius of a heavy nucleus is a fundamental nuclear-structure observable that remains elusive. Progress in this arena has been limited by the exclusive use of hadronic probes that are hindered by large and controversial uncertainties in the reaction mechanism. The parity radius experiment at the Jefferson Laboratory offers an attractive electro-weak alternative to the hadronic program and promises to measure the neutron radius of ²⁰⁸Pb accurately and model independently via parity-violating electron scattering. In this contribution we examine the far-reaching implications that such a determination will have in areas as diverse as nuclear structure, atomic parity violation, and astrophysics.     

Quark deconfinement in neutron star cores

Whether or not the deconfined quark phase exists in neutron star cores is an open question. We use two realistic effective quark models, the three-flavor Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model and the modified quark-meson coupling model, to describe the neutron star matter. We show that the modified quark-meson coupling model, which is fixed by reproducing the saturation properties of nuclear matter, can be consistent with the experimental constraints from nuclear collisions. After constructing possible hybrid equations of state (EOSes) with an unpaired or color superconducting quark phase with the assumption of the sharp hadron-quark phase transition, we discuss the observational constraints from neutron stars on the EOSes. It is found that the neutron star with pure quark matter core is unstable and the hadronic phase with hyperons is denied, while hybrid EOSes with a two-flavor color superconducting phase or unpaired quark matter phase are both allowed by the tight and most reliable constraints from two stars Ter 5 I and EXO 0748-676. And the hybrid EOS with an unpaired quark matter phase is allowed even compared with the tightest constraint from the most massive pulsar star PSR J0751+1807.     

Neutrino scattering rates in the presence of hyperons from a Skyrme model in the RPA approximation

The contribution of -hyperons to neutrino scattering rates is calculated in the random phase approximation in a model where the interaction is described by a Skyrme potential. Finite temperature and neutrino trapping are taken into account in view of applications to the deleptonization stage of protoneutron star cooling. The hyperons can remove the problem of ferromagnetic instability common to (nearly) all Skyrme parametrizations of the nucleon-nucleon interaction. As a consequence, there is not any longer a pole at the transition in the neutrino-baryon cross-section. However there still remains an enhancement in this region. In the absence of ferromagnetism the mean free path in np matter is reduced compared to its value in np matter as a consequence of the presence of this additional degree of freedom. At high density the results are very sensitive to the choice of the - interaction.     

The symmetry energy in nuclei and in nuclear matter

We discuss to what extent information on ground-state properties of finite nuclei (energies and radii) can be used to obtain constraints on the symmetry energy in nuclear matter and its dependence on the density. The starting point is a generalized Weizs?cker formula for ground-state energies. In particular, effects from the Wigner energy and shell structure on the symmetry energy are investigated. Strong correlations in the parameter space prevent a clear isolation of the surface contribution. Use of neutron skin information improves the situation. The result of the analysis appears consistent with a rather soft density dependence of the symmetry energy in nuclear matter.     

Phase transition to color-flavor-locked matter and condensation of Goldstone bosons in neutron star matter

Deconfinement phase transition and condensation of Goldstone bosons in neutron star matter are investigated in a chiral hadronic model (also referred as to the FST model) for the hadronic phase (HP) and in the color-flavor-locked (CFL) quark model for the deconfined quark phase. It is shown that the hadronic-CFL mixed phase (MP) exists in the center of neutron stars with a small bag constant, while the CFL quark matter cannot appear in neutron stars when a large bag constant is taken. Color superconductivity softens the equation of state (EOS) and decreases the maximum mass of neutron stars compared with the unpaired quark matter. The K⁰ condensation in the CFL phase has no remarkable contribution to the EOS and properties of neutron star matter. The EOS and the properties of neutron star matter are sensitive to the bag constant B, the strange quark mass m_s and the color superconducting gap Δ. Increasing B and m_s or decreasing Δ can stiffen the EOS which results in the larger maximum masses of neutron stars.     

A realistic model of superfluidity in the neutron star inner crust

A semi-microscopic self-consistent quantum approach developed recently to describe the inner-crust structure of neutron stars within the Wigner-Seitz (WS) method with the explicit inclusion of neutron and proton pairing correlations is further developed. In this approach, the generalized energy functional is used which contains the anomalous term describing the pairing. It is constructed by matching the realistic phenomenological functional by Fayans et al. for describing the nuclear-type cluster in the center of the WS cell with the one calculated microscopically for neutron matter. Previously, the anomalous part of the latter was calculated within the BCS approximation. In this work corrections to the BCS theory which are known from the many-body theory of pairing in neutron matter are included into the energy functional in an approximate way. These modifications have a sizable influence on the equilibrium configuration of the inner crust, i.e. on the proton charge Z and the radius R _c of the WS cell. The effects are quite significant in the region where the neutron pairing gap is larger.     

Neutrino-nucleon scattering rate in proto-neutron star matter

We present a calculation of the neutrino-nucleon scattering cross-section which takes into account the nuclear correlations in the relativistic random phase approximation (RPA). Our approach is based on a quantum-hadrodynamics model with exchange of σ, ω, π, ρ and δ mesons. In view of applications to neutrino transport in the final stages of supernova explosion and proto-neutron star cooling, we study the evolution of the neutrino mean free path as a function of density, proton-neutron asymmetry and temperature. Special attention was paid to the issues of renormalization of the Dirac sea, residual interactions in the tensor channel, coupling to the delta-meson and meson mixing. In contrast with the results of other authors, we find that the neutral-current process is not sensitive to the strength g' of the residual contact interaction. As a consequence, it is found that RPA corrections with respect to the mean-field approximation amount to only 10% to 15% at high density. Received: 27 June 2001 / Accepted: 14 January 2002     

Neutron stars as cosmic laboratories to explore hadronic matter at ultra-high densities

We examine the present status of the theoretical calculations for the internal structure of neutron stars, and the connection with the microscopic properties of ultradense hadronic matter. We discuss the possibility to have quark deconfinement phase transition in the core of neutron stars, and we explore some of its astrophysical implications as the quark-deconfinement nova model for gamma-ray bursts.