2009/04/30 by C. J. Horowitz, D. K. Berry, Don Berry · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #High-pressure geophysics and materials #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics #astro-ph.HE #astro-ph.SR #nucl-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevc.79.065803
published as Phys.Rev.C79:065803,2009 · 7 pages, 9 figures, added A values to table I, version as published
arxiv created 2009/06/26 · openalex publication_date 2009/06/26 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Using molecular dynamics simulations, we determine the structure of neutron star crust made of rapid proton capture nucleosynthesis material. We find a regular body-centered cubic lattice, even with the large number of impurities that are present. Low-charge-Z impurities tend to occupy interstitial positions, while high-Z impurities tend to occupy substitutional lattice sites. We find strong attractive correlations between low-Z impurities that could significantly increase the rate of pycnonuclear (density driven) nuclear reactions. The thermal conductivity is significantly reduced by electron impurity scattering. Our results will be used in future work to study the effects of impurities on mechanical properties such as the shear modulus and breaking strain.