The nucleonic thermal conductivity of "pastas" in neutron star matter

CO Dorso and A Strachan and GA Frank, NUCLEAR PHYSICS A, 1002, 122004 (2020).

DOI: 10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2020.122004

This investigation explores the nucleonic thermal conductivity of nuclear star matter as it undergoes the "topological" transition to the "pasta" regime, and further down to the solid-liquid phase transition. The study was carried out using molecular dynamics simulations with nuclear potentials embedded in an effective (i.e. Thomas-Fermi) Coulomb potential. The nucleonic thermal conductivity experiences a dramatic change within a narrow temperature interval around T similar or equal to 1 MeV. This change accompanies the "pasta" breakdown during a heating process. The nucleonic thermal conductivity, by flipping protons' or neutrons' velocity, further shows a decoupling for asymmetric nuclear star matter. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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