Nuclear symmetry energy and stability of matter in neutron stars

It is shown that the nuclear symmetry energy is the key quantity in the stability consideration in neutron star matter. The symmetry energy controls the position of crust-core transition and also may lead to new effects in the inner core of neutron star.

Figure 1

The different shapes of the symmetry energy at densities below saturation point.

Figure 2

Three different shapes of the symmetry energy at densities above saturation point (solid lines). For comparison the results of realistic potentials (dotted lines), the higher (UV14UVII) and the lower (UV14TNI).

Figure 3

The compressibility $K_{\mu }$ (thick) and its contributions (thin lines). The dotted line corresponds to the energy per baryon for neutral matter $u(n,0).$

Figure 4

The compressibility $K_{\mu }$ (thick) and its contributions (thin lines) for soft equation of state and B symmetry energy. The dashed line corresponds to $K_q$ and dotted line energy per baryon for neutral matter, $u(n)\equiv u(n,0).$