Low density symmetry energy effects in the neutron star crust properties

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the behavior of nuclear symmetry energy across a wide density range influences neutron star crust properties, emphasizing the importance of both low and high density behaviors.

Contribution

It highlights the significance of the entire density dependence of symmetry energy, especially the high density part, in determining neutron star crust characteristics.

Findings

Crust-core transition point depends on symmetry energy near saturation.

Low density symmetry energy alone is insufficient to predict crust properties.

High density symmetry energy significantly impacts crust structure.

Abstract

The form of the nuclear symmetry energy $E_s$ around saturation point density leads to a different crust-core transition point in the neutron star and affect the crust properties. We show that the knowledge about $E_s$ close to the saturation point is not sufficient, because the very low density behaviour is relevant. We also claim that crust properties are strongly influenced by the very high density behavior of $E_s$, so in order to conclude about the form of low density part of the symmetry energy one must isolate properly the high density part.