Constraining properties of neutron stars with heavy-ion reactions in terrestrial laboratories

Abstract

Heavy-ion reactions provide a unique means to investigate the equation of state (EOS) of neutron-rich nuclear matter, especially the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy $E_{sym}(\rho )$. The latter plays an important role in understanding many key issues in both nuclear physics and astrophysics. Recent analyses of heavy-ion reactions have already put a stringent constraint on the $E_{sym}(\rho )$ around the saturation density. This subsequently allowed us to constrain significantly the radii and cooling mechanisms of neutron stars as well as the possible changing rate of the gravitational constant G.

6 pages. Talk given at the Nuclear Physics in Astrophysics III, Dresden, Germany, March 26-31, 2007. To appear in a special volume of J. of Phys. G

References in corpus (6)

• Neutron-Rich Nuclei in Heaven and Earth
• Constraints on the high-density nuclear equation of state from the phenomenology of compact stars and heavy-ion collisions
• Isospin Diffusion in Heavy-Ion Collisions and the Neutron Skin Thickness of Lead
• The High-Density Symmetry Energy and Direct Urca
• Constraining a possible time-variation of the gravitational constant through "gravitochemical heating" of neutron stars
• The neutron/proton ratio of squeezed-out nucleons and the high density behavior of the nuclear symmetry energy

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Density matrix expansion for the MDI interaction