# Pairing effects on neutron matter equation of state and symmetry energy at subsaturation densities

## TL;DR

This paper investigates how pairing interactions influence the neutron matter equation of state and symmetry energy at low densities, revealing significant effects at very low densities and minimal impact on symmetry energy.

## Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of pairing effects on neutron matter EOS and symmetry energy using microscopic pairing gaps within the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock framework.

## Key findings

- Pairing effects significantly impact neutron matter EOS at densities below 0.02 fm^{-3}.
- Minimal influence of pairing on symmetry energy at subsaturation densities.
- Parabolic approximation remains reliable with pairing correlations included.

## Abstract

Within the framework of BCS theory and Skyrme-Hartree-Fock model, we employ various microscopic pairing gaps and effective pairing interactions to study pairing effects on the equation of state (EOS) of neutron matter and the symmetry energy at subsaturation densities. We find pairing effects may have considerable contributions to the EOS of neutron matter at very low densities ($\lesssim 0.02~\rm{fm}^{-3}$), while only have a small impact on the symmetry energy at subsatruation densities. In addition, the reliability of the parabolic approximation for the isospin asymmetry dependence of nuclear matter EOS with pairing correlations included is also discussed.