Nuclear masses and the equation of state of neutron stars and supernovae

by Dr Matthias Hempel (University of Basel)

Thursday 14 Mar 2013, 14:30 → 15:30 Europe/Zurich

26-1-022 (CERN)

Nuclear masses are one of the foundations of any realistic nucleon-nucleon interaction and by this of the equation of state of dense nuclear matter. In this talk I will show how recent mass measurements have a direct impact on the equation of state (EOS) of the outer crust of neutron stars and the low-density supernova equation of state. At high densities, one of the major uncertainties of the EOS comes from the symmetry energy. Also here, systematics from nuclear binding energies lead to an important constraint. Complementary information comes from recent theoretical results for the neutron matter equation of state and from astronomical observations of neutron stars. I will show how these constraints, if combined together, allow to rule out some commonly used EOSs and limit the possible range of masses and radii of neutron stars. In a second example I will discuss how these constraints affect the scenario of black hole formation in so-called failed core-collapse supernovae.

Slides hempel_cern2013.pdf