From the crust to the core of Neutron Stars on a microscopic basis

TL;DR

This paper presents a comprehensive microscopic model of neutron star structure, integrating a Brueckner-Hartree-Fock derived core EoS with a consistent crust EoS including pasta phases, highlighting the crust's impact on star radius.

Contribution

It is the first to combine a microscopic core EoS with a consistent crust EoS including pasta phases for neutron star modeling.

Findings

Crust EoS significantly affects neutron star radius.

The model accurately describes nuclear binding energies across the mass table.

Comparison with other models shows improved consistency.

Abstract

Within a microscopic approach the structure of Neutron Stars is usually studied by modelling the homogeneous nuclear matter of the core by a suitable Equation of State, based on a many-body theory, and the crust by a functional based on a more phenomenological approach. We present the first calculation of Neutron Star overall structure by adopting for the core an Equation of State derived from the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory and for the crust, including the pasta phase, an Energy Density Functional based on the same Equation of State, and which is able to describe accurately the binding energy of nuclei throughout the mass table. Comparison with other approaches is discussed. The relevance of the crust Equation of state for the Neutron Star radius is particularly emphasised.