Molecular Dynamics for Dense Matter

Abstract

We review a molecular dynamics method for nucleon many-body systems called the quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) and our studies using this method. These studies address the structure and the dynamics of nuclear matter relevant to the neutron star crusts, supernova cores, and heavy-ion collisions. A key advantage of QMD is that we can study dynamical processes of nucleon many-body systems without any assumptions on the nuclear structure. First we focus on the inhomogeneous structures of low-density nuclear matter consisting not only of spherical nuclei but also of nuclear "pasta", i.e., rod-like and slab-like nuclei. We show that the pasta phases can appear in the ground and equilibrium states of nuclear matter without assuming nuclear shape. Next we show our simulation of compression of nuclear matter which corresponds to the collapsing stage of supernovae. With increase of density, a crystalline solid of spherical nuclei change to a triangular lattice of rods by connecting neighboring nuclei. Finally, we discuss the fragment formation in expanding nuclear matter. Our results suggest that a generally accepted scenario based on the liquid-gas phase transition is not plausible at lower temperatures.

30 pages, 17 figures, to appear on Prog. Theor. Exp. Phys

References in corpus (14)

• Nuclear pasta structures and the charge screening effect
• The symmetry energy at subnuclear densities and nuclei in neutron star crusts
• Simulation of Transitions between "Pasta" Phases in Dense Matter
• Formation of Nuclear "Pasta" in Supernovae
• New universality class for the fragmentation of plastic materials
• The pasta phase within density dependent hadronic models
• Phase diagram of nuclear "pasta" and its uncertainties in supernova cores
• Nuclear matter in the crust of neutron stars
• Three dimensional structure of low-density nuclear matter
• Gyroid Phase in Nuclear Pasta
• Impact of nuclear "pasta" on neutrino transport in collapsing stellar cores
• Nuclei embedded in an electron gas
• A doubly-periodic structure for the study of inhomogeneous bulk fermion matter with spatial localizations
• Properties of hadron and quark matter studied with a molecular dynamics

Cited by in corpus (13)

• Equations of state for supernovae and compact stars
• From hadrons to quarks in neutron stars: a review
• Neutron Stars and the Nuclear Equation of State
• Phases of dense matter in compact stars
• The Science of the Einstein Telescope
• Nuclear Equation of state for Compact Stars and Supernovae
• Landau-Peierls instability in a Fulde-Ferrell type inhomogeneous chiral condensed phase
• Effect of Coulomb Screening Length on Nuclear Pasta Simulations
• The effect of the energy functional on the pasta-phase properties of catalysed neutron stars
• Nonlinear Phenomena of Ultracold Atomic Gases in Optical Lattices: Emergence of Novel Features in Extended States
• Structure formation during phase transitions in strongly interacting matter
• Synthesis of thin-long heavy nuclei in ternary collisions
• A novel filtering method for generating desired density profiles of colliding nuclei