Pions in hot dense matter and their astrophysical implications

TL;DR

This paper investigates how pions in hot dense astrophysical matter influence the equation of state, weak interactions, and neutrino opacity, with implications for supernovae and neutron star mergers.

Contribution

It provides a reliable calculation of pion enhancement in dense matter and assesses their impact on astrophysical processes, extending understanding of dense matter physics.

Findings

Thermal pions increase proton fraction and soften the EOS.

Charged current reactions involving pions significantly affect muon neutrino opacity.

Pion-nucleon reactions can alter proton fraction evolution outside equilibrium.

Abstract

We study the role of pions in hot dense matter encountered in astrophysics. We find that strong interactions enhance the number density of negatively charged pions and that this enhancement can be calculated reliably for a relevant range of density and temperature using the virial expansion. We assess the influence of pions and muons on the equation of state (EOS) and weak interaction rates in hot dense matter. We find that thermal pions increase the proton fraction and soften the EOS. We also find that charged current weak reactions involving pions and muons $\bar{\nu}_\mu+\mu^- \rightarrow \pi$ and $\nu_\mu+\pi^- \rightarrow \mu^-$ make an important contribution to the opacity of muon neutrinos. This could influence the dynamics of core-collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers. Finally, we note that pion-nucleon reactions can alter the evolution of the proton fraction when weak interactions are not in equilibrium.