The crust of neutron stars

Journal Article · Mon Feb 26 04:00:00 EST 2007 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2713540· OSTI ID:21056765

Chamel, N ^[1]

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1. Institut d'Astronomie et d'Astrophysique, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, CP226, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels (Belgium)

The structure of the crust of a neutron star is completely determined by the experimentally measured nuclear masses up to a density of the order of 1011 g.cm-3. At higher densities, the composition of the crust still remains uncertain, mainly due to the presence of 'free' superfluid neutrons which affect the properties of the nuclear 'clusters'. After briefly reviewing calculations of the equilibrium structure of the crust, we point out that the current approach based on the Wigner-Seitz approximation does not properly describe the unbound neutrons. We have recently abandoned this approximation by applying the band theory of solids. We have shown that the dynamical properties of the free neutrons are strongly affected by the clusters by performing 3D calculations with Bloch boundary conditions.

• OSTI ID: 21056765
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 891; ISSN APCPCS; ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
APPROXIMATIONS
BAND THEORY
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
CLUSTER MODEL
DENSITY
EQUILIBRIUM
MASS
NEUTRON STARS
NEUTRONS
NUCLEAR MATTER
SUPERFLUIDITY
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS