The EOSs and the Blatant Discrepancy in Modelling Massive Neutron Stars: Origin and a Possible Solution Method

Exploring the state of ultra-cold supranuclear dense matter that makes up the cores of massive neutron stars is one of the greatest unresolved problems in modern physics. In this letter, we show that when the interiors of pulsars are made of compressible and dissipative normal matter, the commonly used solution procedures combined with the known EOSs yield widely scattered solutions and poorly determined radii. A remarkable agreement emerges, however, if pulsars harbour cores that are made of incompressible entropy-free superfluids (SuSu-matter) embedded in flat spacetimes. Such supranuclear dense matter should condensate to form false vacua as predicated by non-perterbative QCD vacuum. The solutions here are found to be physically consistent and mathematically elegant, irrespective of the object’s mass. Based thereon, we conclude that the true masses of massive NSs may differ significantly from those revealed by direct observation.

Influence of strong magnetic field on β decay in the crusts of neutron stars

β decay in the strong magnetic field of the crusts of neutron stars is analysed by an improved method. The reactions ^67Ni（β-）^67Cu and ^62Mn（β-）^62Fe are investigated as examples. The results show that a weak magnetic field has little effect on β decay but a strong magnetic field （B 〉 10^12G） increases β decay rates obviously. The conclusion derived may be crucial to the research of late evolution of neutron stars and nucleosynthesis in r-process.

From Finite Nuclei to Neutron Stars: The Essential Role of High-Order Density Dependence in Effective Forces

A unified description of finite nuclei and equation of state of neutron stars presents both a major challenge and also opportunities for understanding nuclear interactions.Inspired by the Lee-Huang-Yang formula of hardsphere gases,we develop effective nuclear interactions with an additional high-order density dependent term.While the original Skyrme force SLy4 is widely used in studies of neutron stars,there are not satisfactory global descriptions of finite nuclei.The refitted SLy4' force can improve descriptions of finite nuclei but slightly reduces the radius of neutron star of 1.4 M_☉ with M_☉ being the solar mass.We find that the extended SLy4 force with a higher-order density dependence can properly describe properties of both finite nuclei and GW170817 binary neutron stars,including the mass-radius relation and the tidal deformability.This demonstrates the essential role of high-order density dependence at ultrahigh densities.Our work provides a unified and predictive model for neutron stars,as well as new insights for the future development of effective interactions.

Systematic comparison of initial velocities for neutron stars in different models

I have studied the initial velocity（Maxwellian and exponential distributions） and the scale height of isolated old（aged≥10^9yr） neutron stars（NSs） at different Galactocentric distances R in three population models. The smooth time-independent 3-D axisymmetric gravitational potentials（MiyamotoNagai and Paczy n′ski models） were also used. The correlation between these quantities significantly affects the shapes of the profiles and distributions of the simulated sample, because the differences in the initial kick can arise from differences in the formation and evolution of NSs with other physical parameters. The scale height of the density distribution increases systematically with R. I have also shown that the distribution of old NSs in these population models agrees with the observed structure of the Galaxy in terms of initial velocities（1-D and 3-D）, as well as the scale height distributions. These distributions tend to have an asymptotic behavior at the point R = 2.75 kpc. This means that the quality of the models can be described in terms of a mean of the fitted Gaussian, and this could also give an overall perspective of the phase space properties of nearby old NSs on a given gravitational potential.

^3PF2 neutron superfluidity in neutron stars and three-body force effect

We investigate the ^3PF2 neutron superfluidity in H-stable neutron star matter and neutron stars by using the BCS theory and the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approach. We adopt the Argonne V18 potential supplemented with a microscopic three-body force as the realistic nucleon-nucleon interaction. We have concentrated on studying the threebody force effect on the ^3PF2 neutron pairing gap. It is found that the three-body force effect is to enhance remarkably the ^3PF2 neutron superfluidity in neutron star matter and neutron stars.

Phases of Dense Matter in Supernovae and Neutron Stars

We study the properties of dense matter at finite temperature with various proton fractions for use in supernova simulations. The relativistic mean-field theory is used to describe homogeneous nuclear matter, while the Thomas-Fermi approximation is adopted to describe inhomogeneous matter. We also discuss the equation of state of neutron star matter at zero temperature in a wide density range. The equation of state at high densities can be significantly softened by the inclusion of hyperons.

Effects of Tensor Couplings on Nucleonic Direct URCA Processes in Neutron Star Matter

The relativistic neutrino emissivity of the nucleonic direct URCA processes in neutron star matter is investigated within the relativistic Hartree-Fock approximation. We particularly study the influences of the tensor couplings of vector mesons ω and ρ on the nucleonic direct URCA processes. It is found that the inclusion of the tensor couplings of vector mesons w and p can slightly increase the maximum mass of neutron stars. In addition, the results indicate that the tensor couplings of vector mesons ω and ρ lead to obvious enhancement of the total neutrino emissivity for the nucleonic direct URCA processes, which must accelerate the cooling rate of the non- superfluid neutron star matter. However, when considering only the tensor coupling of vector meson ρ, the neutrino emissivity for the nucleonic direct URCA processes slightly declines at low densities and significantly increases at high densities. That is, the tensor coupling of vector meson ρ leads to the slow cooling rate of a low-mass neutron star and rapid cooling rate of a massive neutron star.

Effects of the symmetry energy slope on the axial oscillations of neutron stars

The impact of symmetry energy slope L on the axial w-mode oscillations is explored, where the range of the con- strained slope L of symmetry energy at saturation density is adopted from 25 MeV to 115 MeV while keeping the equation of state （EOS） of symmetric nuclear matter fixed. Based on the range of the symmetry energy slope, a constraint on the frequency and damping time of the wi-mode of the neutron star is given. It is found that there is a perfect linear relation between the frequency and the stellar mass for a fixed slope L, and the softer symmetry energy corresponds to a higher frequency. Moreover, it is confirmed that both the frequencies and damping times have a perfect universal scaling behavior for the EOSs with different symmetry energy slopes at saturation density.

Effect of strong magnetic field on electron capture of iron group nuclei in crusts of neutron stars

In this paper electron capture on iron group nuclei in crusts of neutron stars in a strong magnetic field is investigated. The results show that the magnetic fields have only a slight effect on electron capture rates in a range of 10^5 - 10^13g on surfaces of most neutron stars, whereas for some magnetars the magnetic fields range from 10^13 to 10^18 G. The electron capture rates of most iron group nuclei are greatly decreased, reduced by even four orders of magnitude due to the strong magnetic field.

Impact of neutron star crust on gravitational waves from the axial w-modes

The imprints of the neutron star crust on the gravitational waves emitted from the axial w-modes are investigated by adopting two typical equations of state （EOSs） of the crust matter and two representative EOSs of the core matter. It is shown that there is a significant effect of the crust EOSs on the gravitational waves from the axial w-mode oscillation for a stiff core EOS.

Effect of superstrong magnetic field on electron screening at the crusts of neutron stars

The influences of electron screening （ES） and electron energy correction （EEC） are investigated by superstrong magnetic field （SMF）. We also discuss in detail the discrepant factor between our results and those of Fushiki, Gudmundsson and Pethick （FGP） in SMF. The results show that SMF has only a slight effect on ES when B 〈 10^9 T on the surfaces of most neutron stars. Whereas for some magnetars, SMF influence ES greatly when B 〉 10^9 T . For instance, due to SMF the ES potential may be increased about 23.6% and the EEC may be increased about 4 orders of magnitude at ρ/μe = 1.0 × 10^6 mol/cm^3 and T9 = 1. On the other hand, the discrepant factor shows that our results are in good agreement with FGP＇s when B 〈 10^9 T . But the difference will be increased with increasing SMF.

The Effects of δ Meson on the Neutron Star Cooling

In the framework of the relativistic mean field theory, the isovector scalar interaction is considered by exchanging δ meson to study the influence of δ meson on the cooling properties of neutron star matter. The calculation results show that with the inclusion of δ meson, the neutrino emissivity of the direct Urca processes increases, and thus enhances the cooling of neutron star matter. When strong proton superfluidity is considered, the theoretical cooling curves agree with the observed thermal radiation for isolated neutron stars.

Effects of σ* and Φ mesons on the surface redshift of a neutron star

The effects of σ^＊ and Ф mesons on the surface redshift of a neutron star have been investigated within the framework of relativistic mean field theory for the baryon octet {n, p, ∧, ∑-,∑0, ∑＋, -, 0} system. It is found that compared with those without considering the contributions of σ^＊ and Ф mesons, the surface redshift decreases and that corresponding to the maximum value of the mass also decreases from 0.2540 to 0.2236, about by 12%. Meanwhile, it is also found that including σ^＊ and Ф mesons, the M/R and that corresponding to the maximum mass decrease.

Topological aspects in a two-component Bose condensed system in a neutron star

By making use of Duan-Ge＇s decomposition theory of gauge potential and the topological current theory proposed by Prof. Duan Yi-Shi, we study a two-component superfluid Bose condensed system, which is supposed to be realized in the interior of neutron stars in the form of the coexistence of a neutron superfluid and a protonic superconductor. We propose that this system possesses vortex lines. The topological charges of the vortex lines are characterized by the Hopf indices and the Brower degrees of C-mapping.

Constraints on the kinetic energy of type-Ic supernova explosion from young PSR J1906+0746 in a double neutron star candidate

So far among the nineteen pairs of detected double neutron star(DNS) systems, it is a usual fact that the first-born recycled pulsar is detected, however the youngest DNS system PSR J1906+0746, with the characteristic age of 113 kyr, is one of the three detected DNS as a non-recycled and second-born NS, which is believed to be formed by an electron capture or a low energy ultra-stripped iron core-collapse supernova(SN) explosion. The SN remnant around PSR J1906+0746 is too dim to be observed by optical telescopes, then its x-ray flux limit has been given by Chandra. A reference pulsar PSR J1509-5850 with the young characteristic age of 154 kyr was chosen as an object of comparison, which has an SN remnant observed by Chandra and is believed to be formed by iron core SN explosion. We impose a restriction on the maximum kinetic energy of electron-capture(EC) SN explosion that induces the formation of PSR J1906+0746. The estimated result is(4–8)×10^(50) erg(1 erg= 10-7 J), which is consistent with that of the published simulations of the EC process, i.e., a lower value than that of the conventional iron core SN explosion of(1–2)×10^(51) erg. As suggested, EC process for NS formation is pertained to the subluminous type Ic SN by the helium star with ONeMg core, thus for the first time we derived the kinetic energy of EC SN explosion of DNS, which may be reconciled with the recent observation of type Ic SN 2014 ft with kinetic energy of 2 × 10^(50) erg.

Simulation of the gravitational wave frequency distribution of neutron star-black hole mergers

LIGO-Virgo has observed the gravitational waves(GWs)from the coalescence of binary black hole(BBH)and binary neutron star(BNS)during O1 and O2,and the ones from NS-BH are expected to be hunted in the operating O3 run.The population properties and mass distribution of NS-BH mergers are poorly understood now,thus researchers simulated their chirp mass(M)distribution by a synthetic model,in which the BHs and NSs were inferred by LIGO-Virgo(O1/O2),and obtained the values in the range of 2.1 M_(⊙)<M<7.3 M_(⊙).In this paper,we further simulate the GW frequency(fGW)distribution of NS-BH mergers by the above-stated synthetic model,with a basic binary system model through the Monte Carlo method.Our results predict that the median with 90%credible intervals is 165+475-64 Hz in the case of Schwarzschild BH when the system just before merger,and this GW frequency is expected to increase several times in the merger stage,which is lying in the frequency band of LIGO-Virgo,i.e.,about 15 Hz to a few kHz.Our results provide an important reference for hunting the NS-BH mergers by the on-going O3 run of LIGO-Virgo.

A set of new nucleon coupling constants and the proto neutron star matter

Using a new set of nucleon coupling constants CZll the properties of a proto neutron star are examined within the framework of the relativistic mean-field theory for the baryon octet system. It is found that the relative number density of A,≡ , and ≡0 for CZll are all smaller than those for GL97 and for both CZ11 and GL97, ∑-∑0 and ∑＋ do not appear. It is also found that the pressure and the maximum mass for CZll are all smaller than those for GL97. The maximum mass for CZ11 decreases by approximately 9 percent compared with that for GL97.

A Study of Neutron Star Structure in Strong Magnetic Fields that includes Anomalous Magnetic Moments

We study the effect of strong magnetic fields on the structure of neutron star. We find that if the interior field is on the same order as the surface field currently observed, then the influences of the field on the star's mass and radius are negligible; if the field is as large as that estimated from the scalar virial theorem, then considerable effects will be induced. The maximum mass of the star will be increased substantially while the central density is greatly reduced. The radius of a magnetic star can be larger by about 10% ~ 20% than a nonmagnetic star of the same mass.

Re-research on the size of proto-neutron star in core-collapse supernova

The electron capture timescale may be shorter than hydrodynamic timescale in inner iron core of core-collapse supernova according to a recent new idea. Based on the new idea, this paper carries out a numerical simulation on supernova explosion for the progenitor model Ws15M. The numerical result shows that the size of proto-neutron star has a significant change （decrease about 20%）, which may affects the propagation of the shock wave and the final explosion energy.

Constraints on Estimation of Radius of Double Pulsar PSR J0737-3039A and Its Neutron Star Nuclear Matter Composition

The aspect of formation and evolution of the recycled pulsar（PSR J0737-3039 A/B） is investigated, taking into account the contributions of accretion rate, radius and spin-evolution diagram（- diagram） in the double pulsar system. Accepting the spin-down age as a rough estimate（or often an upper limit） of the true age of the neutron star, we also impose the restrictions on the radius of this system. We calculate the radius of the recycled pulsar PSR J0737-3039 A ranges approximately from 8.14 to 25.74 km, and the composition of its neutron star nuclear matters is discussed in the mass-radius diagram.