English

Light and heavy $\Lambda$ hyperclusters in nuclear matter with relativistic-mean-field models

Nuclear Theory 2025-11-04 v2

Abstract

In the framework of relativistic-mean-field (RMF) models, we investigate the properties of light and heavy Λ\Lambda hyperclusters emersed in nuclear matter at various densities ngasn_{\mathrm{gas}} and proton fractions YpY_p. In particular, the (hyper)clusters are fixed by solving the Dirac equations imposing the Dirichlet-Neumann boundary condition, while the nuclear matter take constant densities and is treated with Thomas-Fermi approximation. The binding energies of (hyper)clusters decrease with the density of nuclear matter ngasn_{\mathrm{gas}}, which eventually become unbound and melt in the presence of nuclear medium, i.e., Mott transition. For light clusters with proton numbers Np<4N_p < 4, with the addition of Λ\Lambda hyperons, the binding energies per baryon for Λ\Lambda hyperclusters become smaller and decrease faster with ngasn_{\mathrm{gas}} due to the weaker NN-Λ\Lambda attraction. For heavy clusters with Np4N_p \geq 4, on the contrary, the addition of Λ\Lambda hyperons increases the stability of (hyper)clusters so that the Mott transition density becomes larger as nucleons occupying higher energy states while Λ\Lambda hyperons remain in the 1s1/21s_{1/2} orbital. The isovector effects on (hyper)clusters in nuclear medium are also identified, where the binding energies for (hyper)clusters with Np>NnN_p> N_n (Np<NnN_p< N_n) increase (decrease) with YpY_p. For those predicted by nonlinear relativistic density functionals, light (hyper)clusters are destabilized drastically as ngasn_{\mathrm{gas}} increases, while the binding energies of heavier (hyper)clusters vary smoothly with ngasn_{\mathrm{gas}}. The binding energy shifts of various (hyper)clusters due to the impact of nuclear medium are fitted to an analytical formula, which could be employed to examine the evolutions of (hyper)clusters in both heavy-ion collisions and neutron stars.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2507.09547,
  title  = {Light and heavy $\Lambda$ hyperclusters in nuclear matter with relativistic-mean-field models},
  author = {Cheng-Jun Xia and Yu-Ting Rong and Ting-Ting Sun},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.09547},
  year   = {2025}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T03:58:26.949Z