出版社：SISSA, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati
摘要：We examine how the properties of inhomogeneous nuclear matter at subnuclear densities depend
on the density dependence of the symmetry energy. We focus on a parameter that characterizes
the density dependence of the symmetry energy S(n) at about nuclear density n0. It is the density
symmetry coefficient L = 3n0(dS/dn)n=n0 . From the saturation properties of stable nuclei,
we find that the usual symmetry energy coefficient S0 = S(n0) has a strong correlation with L
(S0 ¼ 28+0.075L MeV). Thus, we have essentially only one uncertain parameter L. Using a
macroscopic nuclear model we calculate the sizes and shapes of nuclei in neutron star matter at
zero temperature for different assumptions about the density dependence of the symmetry energy.
We find that for smaller symmetry energy at subnuclear densities, corresponding to larger density
symmetry coefficient L, the charge number of nuclei is smaller, and the critical density at which
matter with nuclei or bubbles becomes uniform is lower. The value of the key parameter L could
be constrained from global neutron-excess dependencies of radii and masses in nuclear chart.
Hence, systematic measurements of radii and masses of neutron-rich nuclei could help reveal the
structure of matter around the inner boundary of a neutron-star crust.
