Finite size effects in neutron star and nuclear matter simulations

Many-body Theory of Nuclear and Neutron Star Matter

We present results obtained for nuclei, nuclear and neutron star matter, and neutron star structure obtained with the recent Argonne v18 twonucleon and Urbana IX three-nucleon interactions including relativistic boost corrections. These interactions predict that matter will undergo a transition to a spin layered phase with neutral pion condensation. We also consider the possibility of a transit...

Formation of Nuclear “Pasta” in Cold Neutron Star Matter

Formation and decay of rod-like and slab-like nuclei, as may be encountered in the outer parts of neutron stars, are examined within a zero-temperature stability analysis with respect to perturbations inducing fission and proton clustering. The nonspherical nuclei are found to be stable against these perturbations, implying the possibility that the size of the stellar region containing such nuc...

Superfluidity in Neutron Star Matter

Implicit Finite-Size Effects in Computer Simulations

The influence of periodic boundary conditions (implicit finite-size effects) on the anisotropy of pair correlations in computer simulations is studied for a dense classical fluid of pair-wise interacting krypton atoms near the triple point. Molecular dynamics simulation data for the pair distribution function gN (~r) ≡ gN (r, θ, φ) of N -particle systems, as a function of radial distance r, pol...

Finite-size effects in simulations of nucleation.

We investigate the importance of finite-size effects in simulations of nucleation processes. Most molecular dynamics simulations of first order phase transitions, such as vapor-liquid nucleation, are performed in the canonical NVT ensemble where, owing to the fixed total number of molecules N, the growth of the new phase causes the depletion of the metastable phase. This effect may lead to sign...