A dynamical description of neutron star crusts

TL;DR

This paper models the evolution of nuclear structures in neutron star crusts using a microscopic, time-dependent mean field approach, revealing diverse self-organized shapes influenced by density and composition.

Contribution

It introduces a microscopic, dynamical model to study exotic nuclear structures in neutron star crusts, highlighting their formation and dependence on physical parameters.

Findings

Diverse self-organized nuclear structures form in neutron star crusts.

Structure types depend on density and isotopic composition.

Sensitivity of structures to the equation of state is demonstrated.

Abstract

Neutron Stars are natural laboratories where fundamental properties of matter under extreme conditions can be explored. Modern nuclear physics input as well as many-body theories are valuable tools which may allow us to improve our understanding of the physics of those compact objects. In this work the occurrence of exotic structures in the outermost layers of neutron stars is investigated within the framework of a microscopic model. In this approach the nucleonic dynamics is described by a time-dependent mean field approach at around zero temperature. Starting from an initial crystalline lattice of nuclei at subnuclear densities the system evolves toward a manifold of self-organized structures with different shapes and similar energies. These structures are studied in terms of a phase diagram in density and the corresponding sensitivity to the isospin-dependent part of the equation of state and to the isotopic composition is investigated.