Half-Skyrmions and the Equation of State for Compact-Star Matter

TL;DR

This paper explores how half-skyrmions in dense nuclear matter influence the equation of state, providing new scaling laws and explaining the properties of compact stars with masses around 2.4 solar masses.

Contribution

It introduces the 'new-BR' scaling laws for nuclear effective field theory parameters, linking topological changes in dense matter to the EoS and compact star properties.

Findings

Changeover from skyrmion to half-skyrmion matter stiffens the EoS.

New scaling laws affect nuclear symmetry energies and tensor forces.

Model predicts maximum neutron star mass around 2.4 solar masses.

Abstract

The half-skyrmions that appear in dense baryonic matter when skyrmions are put on crystals modify drastically hadron properties in dense medium and affect strongly the nuclear tensor forces, thereby influencing the equation of state (EoS) of dense nuclear and asymmetric nuclear matter. The matter comprised of half skyrmions has vanishing quark condensate but non-vanishing pion decay constant and could be interpreted as a hadronic dual of strong-coupled quark matter. We infer from this observation combined with certain predictions of hidden local symmetry in low-energy hadronic interactionsa a set of new scaling laws -- called "new-BR" -- for the parameters in nuclear effective field theory controlled by renormalization-group flow. They are subjected to the EoS of symmetric and asymmetric nuclear matter, and are then applied to nuclear symmetry energies and properties of compact stars. The changeover from the skyrmion matter to a half-skyrmion matter that takes place after the cross-over density $n_{1/2}$ provides a simple and natural field theoretic explanation for the change of the EoS from soft to stiff at a density above that of nuclear matter required for compact stars as massive as $\sim 2.4M_\odot$. Cross-over density in the range $1.5n_0 \lsim n_{1/2} \lsim 2.0 n_0$ has been employed, and the possible skyrmion half-skyrmion coexistence {or cross-over} near $n_{1/2}$ is discussed. The novel structure of {the tensor forces and} the EoS obtained with the new-BR scaling is relevant for neutron-rich nuclei and compact star matter and could be studied in RIB (rare isotope beam) machines.