原子核对称能对中子星壳层结构的影响

Influence of Nuclear Symmetry Energy on Neutron Star Crusts

中子星内壳层中存在原子核、中子、电子等非均匀分布的物质。在Wigner-Seitz近似下,共存相方法和自洽Thomas-Fermi近似方法是描述这种非均匀物质的有效方法。中子在非均匀物质所占的比例远远大于其他组分,因此原子核的对称能对非均匀物质的性质会产生十分重要的影响,而原子核对称能的密度依赖关系在核物质饱和密度附近有较大的不确定性。采用相对论平均场理论描述核子间相互作用,研究原子核对称能对中子星内壳层的密度范围、pasta相结构、壳核相变密度等性质的影响,探寻其中可能存在的关联。计算结果表明,原子核对称能及其密度依赖性在决定中子星内壳层非均匀物质的性质中起着重要作用,这与之前相关研究中得到的结论基本相符。

Within Wigner-Seitz approximation, both the coexisting phases method and the self-consistent Thomas-Fermi approximation can be used to describe the nonuniform matter consisting of nuclei, neutrons, and electrons, which may coexist in the inner crust of neutron star. Since the neutron fraction is very large, nuclear symmetry energy may have an important impact on the properties of nonuniform matter. However, the density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy around saturation density is still rather uncertain. This paper focuses on the influence of nuclear symmetry energy on the density range of inner crust, pasta phase structure, and crust-core transition density of neutron star, where the relativistic mean field theory is adopted to describe the nucleon-nucleon interaction. It is turned out that the nuclear symmetry energy and its density dependence play an import role in determining the properties of nonuniform matter in the inner crust of neutron star, which is consistent with the former related studies.