How accurately can the Extended Thomas-Fermi method describe the inner crust of a neutron star?

Abstract

We perform a systematic comparison between the results obtained by solving fully self-consistently the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov equations, and those obtained using the semi-classical Extended Thomas-Fermi method, for various Wigner-Seitz cells within the inner crust of a neutron star. The lack of pairing correlations in the semi-classical approach leads to a large discrepancy between the two approaches. This discrepancy is well beyond the error of the quantum-mechanical calculation, and is related to spurious shell effects in the neutron gas.

arXiv comment10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Physics: Conference Series

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Cited by in corpus (3)

• Systematic analysis of inner crust composition using the extended Thomas-Fermi approximation with pairing correlations
• Comparison between the Thomas-Fermi and Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov Methods in the Inner Crust of a Neutron Star: The Role of Pairing Correlations
• Unified equations of state for cold non-accreting neutron stars with Brussels-Montreal functionals. IV. Role of the symmetry energy in pasta phases