2009/04/30 by W. G. Stone, W. G. Newton J. R. Stone, Stone, W. G. Newton J. R. · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Nuclear Physics and Applications #Nuclear Theory (nucl-th) #Nuclear physics research studies #Nuclear reactor physics and engineering #Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) #astro-ph.SR #nucl-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0904.4714
43 pages, 16 figures, Physical Review C, accepted
arxiv created 2009/04/30 · openalex publication_date 2009/04/30 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The first results of a new three-dimensional, finite temperature Skyrme-Hartree-Fock+BCS study of the properties of inhomogeneous nuclear matter at densities and temperatures leading to the transition to uniform nuclear matter are presented. Calculations are carried out in a cubic box representing a unit cell of the locally periodic structure of the matter. A constraint is placed on the two independent components of the quadrupole moment of the neutron density in order to investigate the dependence of the total energy-density of matter on the geometry of the nuclear structure in the unit cell. This approach allows self-consistent modeling of effects such as (i) neutron drip, resulting in a neutron gas external to the nuclear structure, (ii) shell effects of bound and unbound nucleons, (iii) the variety of exotic nuclear shapes that emerge, collectively termed `nuclear pasta' and (iv) the dissolution of these structures into uniform nuclear matter as density and/or temperature increase. In part I of this work the calculation of the properties of inhomogeneous nuclear matter in the core collapse of massive stars is reported. Calculations are performed at baryon number densities of n\rm b = 0.04 - 0.12 fm\rm -3, a proton fraction of y\rm p=0.3 and temperatures in the range 0 - 7.5 MeV. A wide variety of nuclear shapes are shown to emerge. It is suggested that thermodynamical properties change smoothly in the pasta regime up to the transition to uniform matter; at that transition, thermodynamic properties of the matter vary discontinuously.