Thermodynamics of nuclear condensates and phase transitions in white dwarfs
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
2014-02-26 v1 High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Nuclear Theory
Abstract
We study the thermodynamics of helium at densities relevant for white dwarf physics. We find evidence that, as the temperature is increased, there is first a first order transition between two superconducting phases followed by a second order transition to the normal state. These transitions occur, for realistic densities, at temperatures below the crystallization temperature and the crystalline state is likely to remain as the true ground state of the system. The calculations are performed with a screening but non-dynamical electron background and we comment on the impact of this and other approximations to our result.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1206.1059,
title = {Thermodynamics of nuclear condensates and phase transitions in white dwarfs},
author = {Paulo F. Bedaque and Evan Berkowitz and Srimoyee Sen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1206.1059},
year = {2014}
}
Comments
10 pages, 10 figures