Impacts of the Nuclear Symmetry Energy on Neutron Star Crusts

• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1512.03870
• Publication Date: 2015-01-01
• Authors: Bao, Shishao; Shen, Hong
• Keywords: Nuclear Theory (nucl-th); Nuclear Theory; FOS: Physical sciences

4 pages, 2 figures<br/>Using the relativistic mean-field theory, we adopt two different methods, namely, the coexisting phase method and the self-consistent Thomas-Fermi approximation, to study the impacts of the nuclear symmetry energy on properties of neutron star crusts within a wide range of densities. It is found that the nuclear symmetry energy and its density slope play an important role in determining the pasta phases and the crust-core transition.<br/>