In the present paper we investigate the onset of the pasta phase with different parametrisations of the density dependent hadronic model and compare the results with one of the usual parametrisation of the non-linear Walecka model. The influence of the scalar-isovector virtual δ meson is shown. At zero temperature two different methods are used, one based on coexistent phases and the other on the Thomas-Fermi approximation. At finite temperature only the coexistence phases method is used. npe matter with fixed proton fractions and in β-equilibrium are studied. We compare our results with restrictions imposed on the the values of the density and pressure at the inner edge of the crust, obtained from observations of the Vela pulsar and recent isospin diffusion data from heavy-ion reactions, and with predictions from spinodal calculations.PACS number(s): 21.65.+f, 24.10.Jv, 26.60.+c, 95.30.Tg

We present various properties of nuclear and compact-star matter, comparing the predictions from two kinds of phenomenological approaches: relativistic models (with both constant and density-dependent couplings) and nonrelativistic Skyrme-type interactions. We mainly focus on the liquid-gas instabilities that occur at subsaturation densities, leading to the decomposition of the homogeneous matter into a clusterized phase. Such study is related to the description of neutron-star crust (at zero temperature) and supernova dynamics (at finite temperature).

Liquid-gas phase transitions in asymmetric nuclear matter give rise to a distillation effect that corresponds to the formation of droplets of high-density symmetric matter in a background of a neutron gas possibly with a very small fraction of protons. In the present work we test the model dependence of this effect. We study the spinodal instabilities of asymmetric nuclear matter within six different mean-field relativistic models with both constant and density-dependent coupling parameters. We also consider the effects of introducing the delta meson and the nonlinear omega-rho coupling. It is shown that the distillation effect within density-dependent models is not so efficient and is comparable to results obtained for nonrelativistic models. Thermodynamical instabilities of nuclear matter neutralized by electrons as found in stellar matter are also investigated. The high Fermi energy of electrons completely erases the instability of density-dependent models. The other models still show a small region of instability but the distillation effect completely disappears because the electron presence freezes the proton fluctuations

Dynamical instability modes of low-density asymmetric nuclear matter (ANM) neutralized by electrons as found in supernova core and neutron star crust are studied in the framework of relativistic mean-field hadron models with the inclusion of electron and photon fields. The dynamical and thermodynamical instability zones are compared. It is shown that the Coulomb field quenches large structure formation but has little effect on medium and small-size fluctuations that are, however, partially stabilized by the finite range of the nuclear forces. The electron dynamics tends to restore the large-wavelength instabilities but is moderated by the high-electron Fermi energy

The effects of including light clusters in nuclear matter at low densities are investigated within four different parametrizations of relativistic models at finite temperature. Both homogeneous and inhomogeneous matter (pasta phase) are described for neutral nuclear matter with fixed proton fractions. We discuss the effect of the density dependence of the symmetry energy, the temperature and the proton fraction on the non-homogeneous matter forming the inner crust of proto-neutron stars. It is shown that the number of nucleons in the clusters, the cluster proton fraction and the sizes of the Wigner Seitz cell and of the cluster are very sensitive to the density dependence of the symmetry energy. PACS number(s):21.65.+f, 24.10.Jv, 26.60.+c, 95.30.Tg

The existence of phase transitions from liquid to gas phases in asymmetric nuclear matter (ANM) is related with the instability regions which are limited by the spinodals. In this work we investigate the instabilities in ANM described within relativistic mean field hadron models, both with constant and density dependent couplings at zero and finite temperatures. In calculating the proton and neutron chemical potentials we have used an expansion in terms of Bessel functions that is convenient at low densities. The role of the isovector scalar δ-meson is also investigated in the framework of relativistic mean field models and density dependent hadronic models. It is shown that the main differences occur at finite temperature and large isospin asymmetry close to the boundary of the instability regions. PACS number(s): 21.65.+f, 21.90.+f, 24.10.Jv, 21.30.Fe

No abstract

The effects of density dependence of the symmetry energy on the collective modes and dynamical instabilities of cold and warm nuclear and stellar matter are studied in the framework of relativistic mean-field hadron models. The existence of the collective isovector and possibly an isoscalar collective mode above saturation density is discussed. It is shown that soft equations of state do not allow for a high-density isoscalar collective mode; however, if the symmetry energy is hard enough, an isovector mode will not disappear at high densities. The crust-core transition density and pressure are obtained as a function of temperature for β-equilibrium matter with and without neutrino trapping. Estimations of the size of the clusters formed in the nonhomogeneous phase, as well as the corresponding growth rates and distillation effect, are made. It is shown that cluster sizes increase with temperature, that the distillation effect close to the inner edge of the crust-core transition is very sensitive to the symmetry energy, and that, within a dynamical instability calculation, the pasta phase exists in warm compact stars up to 10-12 MeV.