3 papers
nucl-th2026
Thermodynamic versus Dynamical Description of the Neutron-Star Crust-Core Instability: Implications for Crustal Observables
Athul Kunjipurayil, J. Piekarewicz
We investigate the crust-core transition in neutron stars using both thermodynamic and dynamical descriptions of the instability. In the thermodynamic approach, the transition is i…
nucl-th2025
Elucidating the role of the surface energy in density functional theory
Md Jafrul Islam, Athul Kunjipurayil, J. Piekarewicz +1
The saturation of symmetric nuclear matter -- reflected in the nearly constant interior density of heavy nuclei -- is a defining property of nuclear matter. Modern relativistic ene…
nucl-th2025
Role of the isovector spin-orbit potential in mitigating the CREX-PREX dilemma
Athul Kunjipurayil, Marc Salinas, J. Piekarewicz
Pioneering electroweak measurements of the neutron skin thickness in lead-208 and calcium-48 are challenging our understanding of nuclear dynamics. Many theoretical models suggest…