English

The $g$-mode frequencies in cold neutron stars and nuclear saturation parameters

Nuclear Theory 2026-08-03 v1 High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Abstract

Oscillation frequencies excited in neutron stars are crucial for extracting their interior properties. In addition to the fundamental and pressure modes, the gravity (gg-) modes can be excited even in zero-temperature stellar models due to the composition gradient. In this study, we systematically study the gg-mode frequencies, focusing on the nucleonic equation of state. Then, we can derive an empirical relation for the 1st gg-mode frequencies as a function of the stellar compactness and the combination of the nuclear saturation parameters, η0L/K0\eta_0 \equiv L/K_0, where K0K_0 and LL denote the incompressibility of symmetric nuclear matter and the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy, respectively. If an observed 1st gg-mode frequency significantly deviates from our empirical relation, it may indicate the emergence of additional degrees of freedom or new compositions inside the star.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2608.02463,
  title  = {The $g$-mode frequencies in cold neutron stars and nuclear saturation parameters},
  author = {Hajime Sotani and Hajime Togashi},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2608.02463},
  year   = {2026}
}