Densities and energies of nuclei in dilute matter

Abstract

We explore the ground-state properties of nuclear clusters embedded in a gas of nucleons with the help of Skyrme-Hartree-Fock microscopic calculations. Two alternative representations of clusters are introduced, namely coordinate-space and energy-space clusters. We parameterize their density profiles in spherical symmetry in terms of basic properties of the energy density functionals used and propose an analytical, Woods-Saxon density profile whose parameters depend, not only on the composition of the cluster, but also of the nucleon gas. We study the clusters' energies with the help of the local-density approximation, validated through our microscopic results. We find that the volume energies of coordinate-space clusters are determined by the saturation properties of matter, while the surface energies are strongly affected by the presence of the gas. We conclude that both the density profiles and the cluster energies are strongly affected by the gas and discuss implications for the nuclear EoS and related perspectives. Our study provides a simple, but microscopically motivated modeling of the energetics of clusterized matter at subsaturation densities, for direct use in consequential applications of astrophysical interest.

20 pages, incl. 12 figures

References in corpus (10)

• Symmetry Energy I: Semi-Infinite Matter
• Core-crust transition in neutron stars: predictivity of density developments
• Neutron skin thickness in droplet model with surface width dependence: indications of softness of the nuclear symmetry energy
• Semi-classical equation of state and specific heats for neutron-star inner crust with proton shell corrections
• Nuclear symmetry energy and core-crust transition in neutron stars: a critical study
• Detecting bubbles in exotic nuclei
• Statistical description of complex nuclear phases in supernovae and proto-neutron stars
• Cluster virial expansion for nuclear matter within a quasiparticle statistical approach
• A realistic model of superfluidity in the neutron star inner crust
• Thermodynamics of clusterized matter

Cited by in corpus (29)

• Equations of state for supernovae and compact stars
• Neutron star radii and crusts: uncertainties and unified equations of state
• Neutron Stars and the Nuclear Equation of State
• Unified treatment of sub-saturation stellar matter at zero and finite temperature
• Phases of dense matter in compact stars
• Nuclear Equation of state for Compact Stars and Supernovae
• Nuclear matter equation of state including few-nucleon correlations $(A\le 4)$
• Superfluid hydrodynamics in the inner crust of neutron stars
• Nuclear Statistical Equilibrium Equation of State for Core Collapse
• In-medium nuclear cluster energies within the Extended Thomas-Fermi approach
• Clusterized nuclear matter in the (proto-)neutron star crust and the symmetry energy
• EoS constraints from nuclear masses and radii in a meta-modeling approach
• Modification of magicity towards the dripline and its impact on electron-capture rates for stellar core-collapse
• Nuclear incompressibility and sound speed in uniform matter and finite nuclei
• Time-dependent extension of the self-consistent band theory for neutron star matter: Anti-entrainment effects in the slab phase
• Properties of the neutron star crust: Quantifying and correlating uncertainties with improved nuclear physics
• Thermal properties of the nuclear surface
• Nuclear skin and the curvature of the symmetry energy
• Self consistent calculation of the nuclear composition in hot and dense stellar matter
• The proto-neutron star inner crust in the liquid phase
• Superfluid extension of the self-consistent time-dependent band theory for neutron star matter: Anti-entrainment versus superfluid effects in the slab phase
• Pairing properties and specific heat of the inner crust of a neutron star
• Statistical treatment of nuclear clusters in the continuum
• Parametrization of the surface energy in the ETF approximation
• Anderson-Bogoliubov phonon in inner crust of neutron stars: Dipole excitation in spherical Wigner-Seitz cell
• Analytical mass formula and nuclear surface properties in the ETF approximation
• Statistical approach of nuclear multifragmentation with realistic nuclear equation of state
• Effects of dilute neutron matter on the neutron star crust equation of state
• Neutron star crust properties: comparison between the compressible liquid-drop model and the extended Thomas-Fermi approach