Low density nuclear matter with light clusters in a generalized nonlinear relativistic mean-field model

Abstract

We systematically investigate the thermodynamic properties of homogeneous nuclear matter with light clusters at low densities and finite temperatures using a generalized nonlinear relativistic mean-field (gNL-RMF) model, in which light clusters up to $\alpha$ ($1\le A\le 4$) are included as explicit degrees of freedom and treated as point-like particles with their interactions described by meson exchanges and the medium effects on the cluster binding energies are described by density- and temperature-dependent energy shifts with the parameters obtained by fitting the experimental cluster Mott densities. We find that the composition of low density nuclear matter with light clusters is essentially determined by the density- and temperature-dependence of the cluster binding energy shifts. Compared with the values of the conventional (second-order) symmetry energy, symmetry free energy and symmetry entropy, their fourth-order values are found to be significant at low densities ($\rho \sim 10^{-3}$ fm${}^{-3}$) and low temperatures ($T\lesssim 3$ MeV), indicating the invalidity of the empirical parabolic law for the isospin asymmetry dependence of these nuclear matter properties. Our results indicate that in the density region of $\rho \gtrsim 0.02$ fm${}^{-3}$, the clustering effects become insignificant and the nuclear matter is dominated by nucleon degree of freedom. In addition, we compare the gNL-RMF model predictions with the corresponding experimental data on the symmetry energy and symmetry free energy at low densities and finite temperatures extracted from heavy-ion collisions, and reasonable agreement is found.

13 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables. Discussions added. Accepted version to appear in PRC

References in corpus (52)

• A New Parameterization for the Lagrangian Density of Relativistic Mean Field Theory
• Determination of the Equation of State of Dense Matter
• The Physics of Neutron Stars
• Neutron Star Observations: Prognosis for Equation of State Constraints
• Recent Progress and New Challenges in Isospin Physics with Heavy-Ion Reactions
• Equations of state for supernovae and compact stars
• Isospin Asymmetry in Nuclei and Neutron Stars
• Composition and thermodynamics of nuclear matter with light clusters
• Neutron Star Structure and the Neutron Radius of 208Pb
• Quantum Monte Carlo methods for nuclear physics
• Reaction Dynamics with Exotic Beams
• Neutron-Rich Nuclei in Heaven and Earth
• Cluster Formation and The Virial Equation of State of Low-Density Nuclear Matter
• Relativistic Equation of State for Core-Collapse Supernova Simulations
• Nuclear forces and their impact on neutron-rich nuclei and neutron-rich matter
• On the Lorentz structure of the symmetry energy
• Relativistic mean field interaction with density dependent meson-nucleon vertices based on microscopical calculations
• Symmetry energy impact in simulations of core-collapse supernovae
• Symmetry energy of dilute warm nuclear matter
• Nonlocalized Clustering: A New Concept in Nuclear Cluster Structure Physics
• Giant Dipole Resonance as a Fingerprint of $\alpha$ Clustering Configurations in ${}^{12}$C and ${}^{16}$O
• Light cluster production in intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions induced by neutron-rich nuclei
• Light nuclei quasiparticle energy shift in hot and dense nuclear matter
• Experimental determination of the symmetry energy of a low density nuclear gas
• Light clusters production as a probe to the nuclear symmetry energy
• Status of Alpha-Particle Condensate Structure of the Hoyle State
• Sensitivity of the Moment of Inertia of Neutron Stars to the Equation of State of Neutron-Rich Matter
• Nuclear matter fourth-order symmetry energy in the relativistic mean field models
• Relativistic mean-field study of neutron-rich nuclei
• The many facets of the (non relativistic) Nuclear Equation of State
• Effects of momentum-dependent nuclear potential on two-nucleon correlation functions and light cluster production in intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions
• Density Functional Theory studies of cluster states in nuclei
• Experimental Determination of In-Medium Cluster Binding Energies and Mott Points in Nuclear Matter
• Supernova equations of state including full nuclear ensemble with in-medium effects
• The Nuclear Matter Symmetry Energy at $0.03\le \rho /{\rho }_0\le 0.2$
• Cluster-liquid transition in finite saturated fermionic systems
• Constraining supernova equations of state with equilibrium constants from heavy-ion collisions
• Localization and clustering in the nuclear Fermi liquid
• The Neutrino Response of Low-Density Neutron Matter from the Virial Expansion
• Effect of isospin dependent cluster recognition on the observables in heavy ion collisions
• Effects of the liquid-gas phase transition and cluster formation on the symmetry energy
• Light nuclei in supernova envelopes: a quasiparticle gas model
• The equation of state and symmetry energy of low density nuclear matter
• Light clusters and the pasta phase
• In-medium nuclear cluster energies within the Extended Thomas-Fermi approach
• Insensitivity of the elastic proton-nucleus reaction to the neutron radius of 208Pb
• Clusterized nuclear matter in the (proto-)neutron star crust and the symmetry energy
• Description of light clusters in relativistic nuclear models
• Light Clusters and Pasta Phases in Warm and Dense Nuclear Matter
• Density determinations in heavy ion collisions
• S-matrix approach to equation of state of nuclear matter
• Role of isospin physics in supernova matter and neutron stars

Cited by in corpus (13)

• Towards Understanding Astrophysical Effects of Nuclear Symmetry Energy
• Kinetic approach of light-nuclei production in intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions
• Finite-size effects on the Phase Structure of the Walecka Model
• Nuclear matter at finite temperature and static properties of proto-neutron star
• Light clusters in dilute heavy-baryon admixed nuclear matter
• Relativistic self-energy decomposition of nuclear symmetry energy and equation of state of neutron matter within QCD sum rules
• Cold dilute nuclear matter with $\alpha$-particle condensation in a generalized nonlinear relativistic mean-field model
• Critical behaviour of an effective relativistic mean field model in the presence of magnetic background and boundaries
• Hyperonization in compact stars
• Significance of the refraction effect on the $p$-$d$ elementary process in the ($p$,$pd$) reaction
• Pairing effects on neutron matter equation of state and symmetry energy at subsaturation densities
• Alpha clustering in warm and dense nuclear matter from heavy-ion collisions
• Phase-space excluded-volume approach for light clusters in nuclear medium