Neutrino diffusion in the pasta phase matter within the Thomas-Fermi approach

Abstract

The behavior and properties of neutrinos in non-uniform nuclear matter, surrounded by electrons and other neutrinos are studied. The nuclear matter itself is modeled by the non-linear Walecka model, where the so-called nuclear pasta phase is described using the Thomas-Fermi approximation, solved in a Wigner-Seitz cell. We obtain the total cross-section and mean-free path for the neutrinos, taking into account scattering and neutrino absorption, and compare the final results for two known kind of model parametrizations: one in which non-linear effects in the strong sector are explicitly written in the model Lagrangian and another one in which the coupling constants are density dependent. The solution for this problem is important for the understanding of neutrino diffusion in a newly born neutron star after a supernova explosion. PACS number(s): 24.10. Jv,25.30.Pt,21.65.Mn

Domains and defects in nuclear pasta

“…Hence, nuclear pasta topology determines transport properties at the base of the inner crust of NSs [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. These exotic nuclear shapes also determine neutrino transport in non-trivial ways [11,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21], have an impact on core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) [22][23][24][25][26][27], influence the structure and evolution of NSs [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] and their cooling curves [36][37][38][39][40], as well as affect the final state of matter ejected during binary neutron star mergers [41,42]. Particularly, the presence of nuclear pasta may significantly alter the elastic properties of the inner crust of NSs.…”

Nuclear pasta and supernova neutrinos at late times

“…Recently there have been several calculations of nuclear pasta structure, see for example [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. There are interesting similarities between spiral shapes that might be present in both nuclear pasta and biological membranes, despite the two systems differing in density by 14 orders of magnitude [35], see also [36].…”

Pairing effects in nuclear pasta phase within the relativistic Thomas-Fermi formalism

“…This inhomogeneous matter will have a prominent role in the transport and elastic properties of the neutron star and supernova matter, hence, being crucial in determining their properties [21]. The existence of this inhomogeneous matter strongly affects the neutrino transport properties in the CCSN [22,23], which may have an important role in the neutrino opacities, which in turn is an important issue for the description of the dynamics of the core collapse and the posterior cooling and deleptonization of the proto-neutron star. Thus, the complete study of the pasta phase properties is necessary for a definitive understanding of the CCSN and the subsequent neutron star formation.…”