Related papers: Weak interactions and the gravitational collapse
A neutron star is pictured as a gigantic nucleus overwhelmed by the number of neutrons, unlike real atomic nuclei, that have a similar number of neutrons and protons. Is this true? What if we could find, or create nuclei without protons?…
The potential role of a cosmic vacuum dark component in the properties of neutron stars is investigated. It is assumed that the static, spherically symmetric distribution of matter within neutron stars is supported by two distinct…
In this lecture, we give a first introduction to neutron stars, based on fundamental physical principles. After outlining their amazing macroscopic properties, as obtained from observations, we infer the extreme conditions of matter in…
We formulate a low energy effective theory describing phases of matter that are both solid and superfluid. These systems simultaneously break translational symmetry and the phase symmetry associated with particle number. The symmetries…
The observation of gravitational waves from an asymmetric binary opens the possibility for heavy neutron stars, but these pose challenges to models of the neutron star equation of state. We construct heavy neutron stars by introducing…
The complex nature of the nuclear forces generates a broad range and diversity of observational phenomena. Heavy nuclei, though orders of magnitude less massive than neutron stars, are governed by the same underlying physics, which is…
A fundamental question of physics is what ultimately happens to matter as it is heated or compressed. In the realm of very high temperature and density the fundamental degrees of freedom of the strong interaction, quarks and gluons, come…
Recent neutron star observations suggest that the masses and radii of neutron stars may be smaller than previously considered, which would disfavor a purely nucleonic equation of state. In our model, we use a the flavor SU(3) sigma model…
We review a variety of theoretical and experimental investigations aimed at improving our knowledge of the nuclear matter equation of state. Of particular interest are nuclear matter extreme states in terms of density and/or isospin…
Dawning neutron physics was more complex than one might expect. The chance that the neutron comprised a proton and an electron was diffusely taken into account after the discovery of the neutron. Moreover, uncertainties persisted about the…
Gravitational, magnetic and superfluid forces can stress the crust of an evolving neutron star. Fracture of the crust under these stresses could affect the star's spin evolution and generate high-energy emission. We study the growth of…
The earlier developed algorithm for constructing a self-conjugate Hamiltonian in the \eta-representation for Dirac particles interacting with a general gravitational field is extended to the case of electromagnetic fields. This Hamiltonian…
A fully self-consistent model of the neutron star inner crust based upon models of the nucleonic equation of state at zero temperature is constructed. The results nearly match those of previous calculations of the inner crust given the same…
Neutrino flow is the dominant mechanism of energy transfer in the latest stages of supernovae explosions and in compact stars. The Standard Model of particle physics and accelerator data, provide a satisfactory description of neutrino…
Recently, observations of compact stars have provided new data of high accuracy which put strong constraints on the high-density behaviour of the equation of state of strongly interacting matter otherwise not accessible in terrestrial…
The synthesis of hyper-heavy elements is investigated under conditions simulating neutron star environment. The Constrained Molecular Dynamics (CoMD) approach is used to simulate low energy collisions of extremely n-rich nuclei. A new type…
The structure of a vortex in the inner crust of neutron stars is calculated within the framework of quantum mean field theory taking into account the interaction with the nuclei composing the Coulomb lattice. Making use of the results…
For physically reasonable bulk and surface properties, quark matter has recently been found to coexist with nuclear matter inside neutron stars in a uniform background of electrons. The microstructure of this mixed phase starts out with a…
A statistical model is proposed which ascribes the Z^0 mass to the screening properties of the neutrino Fermi sea (neutrino vacuum). Concerning the fermion masses, some puzzling features of the Higgs mechanism are examined. Arguments are…
We study the structure of neutron stars in f(R) gravity theories with perturbative constraints. We derive the modified Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkov equations and solve them for a polytropic equation of state. We investigate the resulting…