Excluded-Volume Approximation for Supernova Matter

TL;DR

This paper develops a versatile excluded-volume approximation scheme for multicomponent, degenerate systems, specifically applied to supernova matter, incorporating interactions and phase transition analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a general, adaptable excluded-volume approximation framework that includes interactions and is tailored for supernova matter at subnuclear densities.

Findings

Derived a specific form of the approximation for supernova matter

Compared the scheme with the hard-sphere model for validation

Discussed the phase transition to uniform nuclear matter

Abstract

A general scheme of the excluded-volume approximation as applied to multicomponent systems with an arbitrary degree of degeneracy has been developed. This scheme also admits an allowance for additional interactions between the components of a system. A specific form of the excluded-volume approximation for investigating supernova matter at subnuclear densities has been found from comparison with the hard-sphere model. The possibility of describing the phase transition to uniform nuclear matter in terms of the formalism under consideration is discussed.