Mass, radius, and composition of the outer crust of nonaccreting cold neutron stars

TL;DR

This paper investigates the mass, radius, and composition of the outer crust of nonaccreting cold neutron stars using extended nuclear models and recent experimental data to compare different theoretical predictions.

Contribution

It extends the Baym-Pethick-Sutherland model by including higher order corrections and compares various nuclear models for neutron star crust properties.

Findings

Different nuclear models yield varying crust mass and radius estimates.

The composition of the crust depends on the nuclear model used.

The study provides a detailed comparison of model predictions for neutron star crusts.

Abstract

The properties and composition of the outer crust of nonaccreting cold neutron stars are studied by applying the model of Baym, Pethick, and Sutherland, which was extended by including higher order corrections of the atomic binding, screening, exchange and zero-point energy. The most recent experimental nuclear data from the atomic mass table of Audi, Wapstra, and Thibault from 2003 is used. Extrapolation to the drip line is utilized by various state-of-the-art theoretical nuclear models (finite range droplet, relativistic nuclear field and non-relativistic Skyrme Hartree-Fock parameterizations). The different nuclear models are compared with respect to the mass and radius of the outer crust for different neutron star configurations and the nuclear compositions of the outer crust.