Vacuum fluctuation effects on asymmetric nuclear matter

TL;DR

This paper investigates how vacuum fluctuation effects modify the properties of asymmetric nuclear matter, leading to softer equations of state and reduced neutron star masses, by calculating in-medium hadron mass modifications within a relativistic framework.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed calculation of vacuum fluctuation effects on hadron masses and their impact on the nuclear equation of state and neutron star properties using the relativistic mean-field approach.

Findings

VF effects soften the nuclear EOS

Neutron star masses decrease with VF corrections

In-medium hadron masses are density-dependent

Abstract

The vacuum fluctuation (VF) effects on asymmetric nuclear matter are investigated. Masses of nucleons and mesons are modified in the nuclear medium by calculating the loop-diagram corrections and the density dependence of hadron masses is obtained. The relativistic Lagrangian density with the isovector scalar $\delta$ meson is used to calculate the nuclear equation of state (EOS) in the framework of the relativistic mean-field (RMF) approach, the effects of the in-medium hadron masses on the properties of neutron stars are finally studied. With the inclusion of the VF corrections, the nuclear EOS becomes softer and the neutron star masses are reduced.