The Neutrino Opacity of Neutron Star Inner Crust

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the complex nuclear pasta structures in neutron star crusts affect neutrino opacity, which is vital for understanding supernova dynamics and neutron star behavior.

Contribution

It provides a systematic study of neutrino opacity in heterogeneous nuclear matter using semiclassical molecular dynamics across various thermodynamic conditions.

Findings

Neutrino opacity varies significantly with density, temperature, and proton fraction.

Cluster distributions influence the long-range neutrino scattering.

Results inform models of supernova evolution and neutron star cooling.

Abstract

The study of neutron rich matter, present in neutron star, proto-neutron stars and core-collapse supernovae, can lead to further understanding of the behavior of nuclear matter in highly asymmetric nuclei. Heterogeneous structures are expected to exist in these systems, often referred to as nuclear pasta. We have carried out a systematic study of neutrino opacity for different thermodynamic conditions in order to assess the impact that the structure has on it. We studied the dynamics of the neutrino opacity of the heterogeneous matter at different thermodynamic conditions with semiclassical molecular dynamics model already used to study nuclear multifragmentation. For different densities, proton fractions and temperature, we calculate the very long range opacity and the cluster distribution. The neutrino opacity is of crucial importance for the evolution of the core-collapse supernovae and the neutrino scattering.