Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2017
Volume 62, Number 1
Saturday–Tuesday, January 28–31, 2017; Washington, DC
Session M16: Neutron Skins, Hypernuclei and Neutron StarsInvited
|
Hide Abstracts |
Sponsoring Units: DNP DAP Chair: Rocco Schiavilla, Old Dominion University Room: Washington 3 |
Sunday, January 29, 2017 3:30PM - 4:06PM |
M16.00001: The Nuclear Symmetry Energy and the Mass-Radius Relation of Neutron Stars Invited Speaker: James Lattimer The assumptions that i) neutron stars have hadronic crusts, ii) the equation of state is causal, iii) GR is the correct theory of gravity, and iv) their largest observed mass is 2 solar masses, when coupled with recent results from nuclear experiment and theoretical studies of neutron matter, generate powerful constraints on their structure. These include restriction of the radii of typical neutron stars to the range 11-13 km, as well as significant correlations among their masses, compactnesses, moments of inertia, binding energies, and tidal deformabilities. In addition, properties of quark matter, including the location and magnitude of the quark-hadron phase transition, can also be limited. The implications of recent and forthcoming experiments, such as those pertaining to the neutron skin thickness and astrophysical measurements of various structural properties is discussed. For the latter, emphasis is placed on pulsar timing, X-ray observations, supernova neutrino detections, and gravitational waves from mergers involving neutron stars. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, January 29, 2017 4:06PM - 4:42PM |
M16.00002: Measurements of neutron skin in calcium and lead Invited Speaker: Robert Michaels Measurement of the parity-violating electron scattering asymmetry from ${}^{208}$Pb has demonstrated a new opportunity at Jefferson Lab to measure the weak charge form factor and hence pin down the neutron radius in nuclei in a relatively clean and model-independent way. This is because the Z boson of the weak interaction couples primarily to neutrons. We will describe the PREX and CREX experiments on ${}^{208}$Pb and ${}^{48}$Ca respectively. PREX-I ran in 2010, and CREX and a second run of PREX are currently in preparation. These are both doubly-magic nuclei whose first excited state can be discriminated by the high resolution spectrometers at JLab. The heavier lead nucleus, with a neutron excess, provides an interpretation of the neutron skin thickness in terms of properties of bulk neutron matter. For the lighter ${}^{48}$Ca nucleus, which is also rich in neutrons, microscopic nuclear theory calculations are feasible and are sensitive to poorly constrained 3-neutron forces. The measuements are a fundamental test of nuclear structure with applications to heavy ion research and neutron stars. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, January 29, 2017 4:42PM - 5:18PM |
M16.00003: Strangeness in nuclei and neutron stars Invited Speaker: Diego Lonardoni The presence of exotic particles in the core of neutron stars (NS) has been questioned for a long time. At present, it is still an unsolved problem that drives intense research efforts, both theoretical and experimental. The appearance of strange baryons in the inner regions of a NS, where the density can exceed several times the nuclear saturation density, is likely to happen due to energetic considerations. The onset of strange degrees of freedom is considered as an effective mechanism to soften the equation of state (EoS). This softening affects the entire structure of the star, reducing the pressure and therefore the maximum mass that the star can stably support. The observation of two very massive NS with masses of the order of $2 M_\odot$ seems instead to rule out soft EoS, apparently excluding the possibility of hyperon formation in the core of the star. This inconsistency, usually referred to as the \emph{hyperon puzzle}, is based on what we currently know about the interaction between strange particles and normal nucleons. The combination of a poor knowledge of the hypernuclear interactions and the difficulty of obtaining clear astrophysical evidence of the presence of hyperons in NS makes the understanding of the behavior of strange degrees of freedom in NS an intriguing theoretical challenge. We give our contribution to the discussion by studying the general problem of the hyperon-nucleon interaction. We attack this issue by employing a quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) technique, that has proven to be successful in the description of strongly correlated Fermion systems, to the study of finite size nuclear systems including strange degrees of freedom, i.e. hypernuclei. We show that many-body hypernuclear forces are fundamental to properly reproduce the ground state physics of $\Lambda$ hypernuclei from light- to medium-heavy. However, the poor abundance of experimental data on strange nuclei leaves room for a good deal of indetermination in the construction of hypernuclear potential models. This lack of accuracy leads to uncertainties in the prediction of NS properties. We apply the same QMC algorithm and the same hypernuclear interactions to the study an infinite system of neutrons and $\Lambda$ particles, deriving NS observables. We show how the appearance of hyperons in the inner core of NS is strongly dependent on the details of the underlying many-body hypernuclear interactions, that at present cannot be accurately derived from the scarce hypernuclear experimental data. Our results suggest that more experimental and/or observational constraints are needed to pin down the essential features of the hypernuclear forces and thus to draw conclusions on the role played by hyperons in NS. [Preview Abstract] |
Follow Us |
Engage
Become an APS Member |
My APS
Renew Membership |
Information for |
About APSThe American Physical Society (APS) is a non-profit membership organization working to advance the knowledge of physics. |
© 2024 American Physical Society
| All rights reserved | Terms of Use
| Contact Us
Headquarters
1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844
(301) 209-3200
Editorial Office
100 Motor Pkwy, Suite 110, Hauppauge, NY 11788
(631) 591-4000
Office of Public Affairs
529 14th St NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20045-2001
(202) 662-8700