Related papers: Beta equilibrium under neutron star merger conditi…
We show that the commonly used criterion for beta equilibrium in neutrino-transparent dense nuclear matter becomes invalid as temperatures rise above 1 MeV. Such temperatures are attained in neutron star mergers. By numerically computing…
In order to extract maximal information from neutron-star merger signals, both gravitational and electromagnetic, we need to ensure that our theoretical models/numerical simulations faithfully represent the extreme physics involved. This…
Matter in neutron star collisions can reach densities up to few times the nuclear saturation threshold and temperatures up to one hundred MeV. Understanding the structure and composition of such matter requires many-body nonperturbative…
Neutrino-matter interactions play a key role in binary neutron star mergers. Thermodynamics conditions at the surfaces where neutrinos decouple from matter influence neutrino spectra, ultimately affecting the evolution of the remnant and…
We analyze the isospin equilibration properties of neutrinoless nuclear ($npe$) matter in the temperature and density range that is relevant to neutron star mergers. Our analysis incorporates neutrino-transparency corrections to the isospin…
We describe a new method to incorporate thermonuclear heating in the envelope of accreting neutron star into long term simulations of their thermal evolution. We obtain boundary conditions for the heat exchange between the envelope and the…
Asymmetric nuclear matter equation of state at finite temperature is studied in SU(2) chiral sigma model using mean field approximation. The effect of temperature on effective mass, entropy, and binding energy is discussed. Treating the…
We find that the abundance of large clusters of nucleons in neutron-rich matter at sub-nuclear density is greatly reduced by finite temperature effects when matter is close to beta-equilibrium. Large nuclei and exotic non-spherical nuclear…
The temperature of a newly formed neutron star is believed to be as high as $10^{11}$~K, corresponding to a thermal energy of about $10$ MeV. After a time $t \sim 50 \ {\rm s}$, the neutrino mean free path in nuclear matter exceeds the…
We study the neutrino distributions that arise in a simulation of a neutron star merger that uses a Monte Carlo (MC) neutrino transport scheme. In a snapshot taken 1 ms after merger, we calculate relevant observables to test when neutrinos…
After an introduction to the QCD phase diagram, the nuclear equations of state, and neutron star mergers, I discuss three projects related to transport and nuclear matter in neutron star mergers. The first is the nature of beta equilibrium…
Several different processes could be changing the density in the core of a neutron star, leading to a departure from $\beta$ equilibrium, quantified by the chemical potential difference $\delta\mu\equiv\mu_n-\mu_p-\mu_e$. The evolution of…
The cell structure of $\beta$-stable clusters in the inner crust of cold and warm neutron stars is studied within the Thomas-Fermi approach using relativistic mean field nuclear models. The relative size of the inner crust and the pasta…
The influence of nucleons superfluidity on the beta relaxation time of degenerate neutron star cores, composed of neutrons, protons and electrons, is investigated. We numerically calculate the implied reduction factors for both direct and…
We present a first exploration of the results of neutron star-black hole mergers using black hole masses in the most likely range of $7M_\odot-10M_\odot$, a neutrino leakage scheme, and a modeling of the neutron star material through a…
In this work we provide a new, well-controlled expansion of the equation of state of dense matter from zero to finite temperatures ($T$) while covering a wide range of charge fractions ($Y_Q$), from pure neutron to isospin symmetric nuclear…
Recent observations have found several candidates for old warm neutron stars whose surface temperatures are above the prediction of the standard neutron star cooling scenario, and thus require some heating mechanism. Motivated by these…
The formation of the chemical composition of neutron star envelopes, at high densities is considered. As hot matter is compressed in the process of collapse, which leads to the explosion of a core collapse supernova, the stage of nuclear…
Time-dependent nuclear network calculations at constant temperature show that for zero-metal stars >= 20 Msun (i) beta-decay reactions and (ii) the 13N(p,gamma)14O reaction must be included. It is also shown that the nuclear timescale in…
Isospin-equilibrating weak processes, called ``Urca" processes, are of fundamental importance in astrophysical environments like (proto-)neutron stars, neutron star mergers, and supernovae. In these environments, matter can reach high…