Related papers: Degeneracy, the virial theorem, and stellar collap…
The physics of nuclear reactions in stellar plasma is reviewed with special emphasis on the importance of the velocity distribution of ions. Then the properties (density and temperature) of the weak-coupled solar plasma are analysed,…
We argue that significant probability of protons with momenta above their Fermi surface leads for proton concentrations p/n > 1/8 to the enhancement of termally excited direct and modified URCA processes within a cold neutron star, and to a…
The dynamics of embryonic bubbles in overheated, viscous and non-Markovian nuclear matter is studied. It is shown that the memory and the Fermi surface distortions significantly affect the hinderance of bubble collapse and determine a…
Neutrino-cooled hyperaccretion disks around stellar mass black holes are plausible candidates for the central engine of gamma-ray bursts. We calculate the one-dimensional structure and the annihilation luminosity of such disks. The neutrino…
Neutrinos play a key role in core-collapse supernova explosions. Carrying information from deep inside the stellar core, neutrinos are direct probes of the supernova mechanism. Intriguing recent developments on the role of neutrinos in…
The equation of state of an ideal Fermi gas is expressed in terms of Fermi-Dirac integrals. We give formulae for evaluation the Fermi-Dirac integrals of orders 1/2, 3/2, and 5/2 and their derivatives in various limits of non- and extreme…
We report on the observation of a highly-degenerate, strongly-interacting Fermi gas of atoms. Fermionic $^6$Li atoms in an optical trap are evaporatively cooled to degeneracy using a magnetic field to induce strong, resonant interactions.…
In a core collapse supernova, collective oscillations of neutrinos emitted by the proto-neutron star significantly modifies the partition of energy between different flavors in a way which is potentially important for the nucleosynthesis of…
We consider radiative electromagnetic corrections, at order \alpha, to the process $e^+ e^- \to \nu \bar{\nu}$ at finite density and temperature. This process represents one of the main contributions to the cooling of stellar environments…
There may be structural principles pertaining to the general behavior of systems that lead to similarities in a variety of different contexts. Classic examples include the descriptive power of fractals, the importance of surface area to…
We present the results from a series of two-dimensional core-collapse simulations using a rotating progenitor star. We find that the convection in these simulations is less vigorous because a) rotation weakens the core bounce which seeds…
Depending on mass and rotational frequency, gravity compresses the matter in the core regions of neutron stars to densities that are several times higher than the density of ordinary atomic nuclei. At such huge densities atoms themselves…
The neutrino emissivity of compact stars is investigated in this work. We consider stars consisting of nuclear as well as quark matter for this purpose. Different models are used to calculate the composition of nuclear and quark matter and…
We analyze several aspects of the recently noted neutron star collapse instability in close binary systems. We utilize (3+1) dimensional and spherical numerical general relativistic hydrodynamics to study the origin, evolution, and…
In stellar environments nuclei appear at finite temperatures, becoming extremely hot in core-collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers. However, due to theoretical and computational complexity, most model calculations of nuclear…
We investigate numerically and semi-analytically the collapse of low-mass, rotating prestellar cores. Initially, the cores are in approximate equilibrium with low rotation (the initial ratio of thermal to gravitational energy is $\alpha_0…
The impact of nuclear physics theories on cooling of isolated neutron stars is analyzed. Physical properties of neutron star matter important for cooling are reviewed such as composition, the equation of state, superfluidity of various…
Neutron stars and supernovae provide cosmic laboratories of highly compressed matter at supra nuclear saturation density which is beyond the reach of terrestrial experiments. The properties of dense matter is extracted by combining the…
We consider here the decay of unstable particles in geodesic circular motion around compact objects. For the neutron, in particular, strong and weak decay are calculated by means of a semiclassical approach. Noticeable effects are expected…
Neutrino processes in dense matter play a key role in the dynamics, deleptonization and early cooling of hot protoneutron stars formed in the gravitational collapse of massive stars. Here we calculate neutrino mean free paths from…