Relativistic mean-field study of the neutron star inner crust using the asymmetric finite difference method

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Zhang, Jinzhe, Shen, Hong, Zhang, Ying, Hu, Jinniu
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866917466836303872
author Zhang, Jinzhe
Shen, Hong
Zhang, Ying
Hu, Jinniu
author_facet Zhang, Jinzhe
Shen, Hong
Zhang, Ying
Hu, Jinniu
contents The ground-state properties of neutron-rich nuclear clusters in the inner crust of neutron stars are investigated within the Wigner-Seitz approximation using a relativistic mean-field framework. The radial Dirac equations are solved with an asymmetric finite-difference scheme, by which the hermiticity is preserved and spurious states are eliminated. Calculations are performed for representative Wigner-Seitz cells employing TM1-based interactions with different symmetry-energy slope parameters $L$, as well as a parametrization with a larger nucleon effective mass. It is found that the binding energy per nucleon decreases systematically with increasing $L$, while a larger effective mass leads to further reduction, particularly at higher densities. Quantum shell effects, which are absent in the Thomas-Fermi approximation, give rise to oscillatory density distributions and modify neutron properties. Within the Wigner-Seitz cell, the resulting neutron root-mean-square radius and chemical potential are shown to be sensitive to both $L$ and the effective nucleon mass, underscoring their important roles in determining the microscopic structure of the neutron-star inner crust.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_05634
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Relativistic mean-field study of the neutron star inner crust using the asymmetric finite difference method
Zhang, Jinzhe
Shen, Hong
Zhang, Ying
Hu, Jinniu
Nuclear Theory
The ground-state properties of neutron-rich nuclear clusters in the inner crust of neutron stars are investigated within the Wigner-Seitz approximation using a relativistic mean-field framework. The radial Dirac equations are solved with an asymmetric finite-difference scheme, by which the hermiticity is preserved and spurious states are eliminated. Calculations are performed for representative Wigner-Seitz cells employing TM1-based interactions with different symmetry-energy slope parameters $L$, as well as a parametrization with a larger nucleon effective mass. It is found that the binding energy per nucleon decreases systematically with increasing $L$, while a larger effective mass leads to further reduction, particularly at higher densities. Quantum shell effects, which are absent in the Thomas-Fermi approximation, give rise to oscillatory density distributions and modify neutron properties. Within the Wigner-Seitz cell, the resulting neutron root-mean-square radius and chemical potential are shown to be sensitive to both $L$ and the effective nucleon mass, underscoring their important roles in determining the microscopic structure of the neutron-star inner crust.
title Relativistic mean-field study of the neutron star inner crust using the asymmetric finite difference method
topic Nuclear Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.05634