Equation of state of neutron matter with proton excess

Abstract EN

The equation of state of neutron matter is investigated using Skyrme interaction.

The proton excess parameter (D) was used to study nuclear matter properties from pure neutron matter up to symmetric nuclear matter.

To study the thermal properties of this system, Fermi integrals were expanded in temperature up to T4.

The free energy, pressure and compressibility of neutron matter are investigated through their dependence on the proton excess parameter and temperature.

It is found that nuclear matter exists only in one stable phase for D < 0.5.

The nuclear matter exhibits a phase transition for D ≥ 0.5 at a critical temperature.

We studied the dependence of the critical temperature on the proton excess parameter.

The investigated model has been applied to study the maximum mass and the radius of neutron stars.

The maximum mass of the neutron star and its radius were found to decrease with D.

The temperature was found to have a small effect on the neutron star maximum mass and radius.