From nuclear structure to neutron stars

¹ Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
² Institute for Nuclear Theory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195

Published online: 20 March 2014

Abstract

Recent progress in quantum Monte Carlo with modern nucleon-nucleon interactions have enabled the successful description of properties of light nuclei and neutronrich matter. As a demonstration, we show that the agreement between theoretical calculations of the charge form factor of ¹²C and the experimental data is excellent. Applying similar methods to isospin-asymmetric systems allows one to describe neutrons confined in an external potential and homogeneous neutron-rich matter. Of particular interest is the nuclear symmetry energy, the energy cost of creating an isospin asymmetry. Combining these advances with recent observations of neutron star masses and radii gives insight into the equation of state of neutron-rich matter near and above the saturation density. In particular, neutron star radius measurements constrain the derivative of the symmetry energy.