Constraints on the nuclear symmetry energy from asymmetric-matter calculations with chiral NN and 3N interactions

Abstract

The nuclear symmetry energy is a key quantity in nuclear (astro)physics. It describes the isospin dependence of the nuclear equation of state (EOS), which is commonly assumed to be almost quadratic. In this work, we confront this standard quadratic expansion of the EOS with explicit asymmetric nuclear-matter calculations based on a set of commonly used Hamiltonians including two- and three-nucleon forces derived from chiral effective field theory. We study, in particular, the importance of non-quadratic contributions to the symmetry energy, including the non-analytic logarithmic term introduced by Kaiser [Phys.~Rev.~C \textbf{91}, 065201 (2015)]. Our results suggest that the quartic contribution to the symmetry energy can be robustly determined from the various Hamiltonians employed, and we obtain 1.00(8) MeV (or 0.55(8) MeV for the potential part) at saturation density, while the logarithmic contribution to the symmetry energy is relatively small and model-dependent. We finally employ the meta-model approach to study the impact of the higher-order contributions on the neutron-star crust-core transition density, and find a small 5\% correction.

23 pages and 12 figures; Supplemental Material: 2 pages

References in corpus (20)

• Improved nuclear matter calculations from chiral low-momentum interactions
• Relativistic Mean-Field Hadronic Models under Nuclear Matter Constraints
• Improved chiral nucleon-nucleon potential up to next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order
• Neutron matter at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order in chiral effective field theory
• Constraints on neutron star radii based on chiral effective field theory interactions
• Hyperon Puzzle: Hints from Quantum Monte Carlo Calculations
• Constraints on the Symmetry Energy Using the Mass-Radius Relation of Neutron Stars
• Local chiral effective field theory interactions and quantum Monte Carlo applications
• Core-crust transition in neutron stars: predictivity of density developments
• Higher-order effects on the incompressibility of isospin asymmetric nuclear matter
• Density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy: a microscopic perspective
• Towards Understanding Astrophysical Effects of Nuclear Symmetry Energy
• Giant Quadrupole Resonances in 208Pb, the nuclear symmetry energy and the neutron skin thickness
• A new Skyrme interaction with improved spin-isospin properties
• Nuclear symmetry energy and core-crust transition in neutron stars: a critical study
• The High-Density Symmetry Energy and Direct Urca
• Low Momentum Nucleon-Nucleon Interactions and Shell-Model Calculations
• The isospin quartic term in the kinetic energy of neutron-rich nucleonic matter
• Examining the $N$ = 28 shell closure through high-precision mass measurements of ${}^{46-48}$Ar
• Quartic isospin asymmetry energy of nuclear matter from chiral pion-nucleon dynamics

Cited by in corpus (41)

• Astrophysical Constraints on the Symmetry Energy and the Neutron Skin of ${}^{208}$Pb with Minimal Modeling Assumptions
• Dense Nuclear Matter Equation of State from Heavy-Ion Collisions
• Chiral Effective Field Theory and the High-Density Nuclear Equation of State
• Limiting masses and radii of neutron stars and their implications
• A Detailed Examination of Astrophysical Constraints on the Symmetry Energy and the Neutron Skin of ${}^{208}$Pb with Minimal Modeling Assumptions
• Theoretical and Experimental Constraints for the Equation of State of Dense and Hot Matter
• Perturbative QCD and the Neutron Star Equation of State
• EoS for hot neutron stars
• Large and massive neutron stars: Implications for the sound speed in dense QCD
• Impact of NICER's Radius Measurement of PSR J0740+6620 on Nuclear Symmetry Energy at Suprasaturation Densities
• Low-energy nuclear physics and global neutron star properties
• Neutron stars and the dense matter equation of state: from microscopic theory to macroscopic observations
• Bayesian Inference of the Dense Matter Equation of State built upon Covariant Density Functionals
• Bayesian reconstruction of nuclear matter parameters from the equation of state of neutron star matter
• Nearly model-independent constraints on dense matter equation of state in a Bayesian approach
• Impact of massive neutron star radii on the nature of phase transitions in dense matter
• Nuclear incompressibility and sound speed in uniform matter and finite nuclei
• Properties of the neutron star crust: Quantifying and correlating uncertainties with improved nuclear physics
• Confronting a set of Skyrme and ${\chi }_{EFT}$ predictions for the crust of neutron stars
• Symmetry energy and neutron star properties constrained by chiral effective field theory calculations
• Bayesian Inference of Fine-Features of Nuclear Equation of State from Future Neutron Star Radius Measurements to 0.1km Accuracy
• Bayesian inference of the dense matter equation of state built upon extended Skyrme interactions
• Impact of the nuclear equation of state on the formation of twin stars
• Properties of First-Order Hadron-Quark Phase Transition from Inverting Neutron Star Observables
• Constraining the nonanalytic terms in the isospin-asymmetry expansion of the nuclear equation of state
• Effects of nuclear matter properties in neutron star mergers
• Neutron matter from local chiral effective field theory interactions at large cutoffs
• The proto-neutron star inner crust in the liquid phase
• Auxiliary Function Approach for Determining Symmetry Energy at Supra-saturation Densities
• On the nature of compact stars determined by gravitational waves, radio-astronomy, x-ray emission and nuclear physics
• Exploring sensitivity of charge-exchange ($p,n$) reactions to the neutron density distribution
• Bayesian inference of neutron star crust properties using an ab initio-benchmarked meta-model
• The nucleardatapy toolkit for simple access to experimental nuclear data, astrophysical observations, and theoretical predictions
• Direct Inference of Nuclear Equation-of-State Parameters from Gravitational-Wave Observations
• Effective Field Theories for Neutron Stars Physics
• Imprints of high-density nuclear symmetry energy on the crustal fraction of neutron star moment of inertia
• Effects of dilute neutron matter on the neutron star crust equation of state
• New {\em ab initio} constrained extended Skyrme equations of state for simulations of neutron stars, supernovae and binary mergers: I. Subsaturation density domain
• New ab initio constrained extended Skyrme equations of state for simulations of neutron stars, supernovae and binary mergers: II. Thermal response in the suprasaturation density domain
• Neutron star crust properties: comparison between the compressible liquid-drop model and the extended Thomas-Fermi approach
• Constraining Hamiltonians from chiral effective field theory with neutron-star data