Properties of pasta phases in catalyzed neutron stars

TL;DR

This paper investigates the properties of exotic pasta phases in neutron star crusts using a liquid-drop model, Bayesian analysis, and experimental data to understand model uncertainties and their astrophysical implications.

Contribution

It introduces a Bayesian framework to quantify uncertainties in pasta phase properties considering nuclear physics and astrophysical data.

Findings

Pasta phase properties show strong dependence on the nuclear model used.

Bayesian analysis constrains the range of possible pasta configurations.

Model uncertainties significantly affect predictions of neutron star crust behavior.

Abstract

Exotic non-spherical configurations of nuclei, known as ``pasta" phases, are expected to be present at the bottom of the inner crust of a neutron star. We study the properties of these configurations in catalyzed neutron stars within a compressible liquid-drop model approach, with surface parameters optimized to reproduce experimental nuclear masses. Our results show that the properties of the pasta phases exhibit strong model dependence. To estimate the model uncertainties, a Bayesian analysis is performed, combining information from nuclear physics experiments and chiral perturbation theoretical calculations with astrophysical observations. The inferred posterior distributions are discussed, with particular focus on the effect of the low-density energy functional on the predictions.