Asymmetric nuclear matter and neutron star properties in relativistic <i>ab initio</i> theory in the full Dirac space

Abstract

The long-standing controversy about the isospin dependence of the effective Dirac mass in ab initio calculations of asymmetric nuclear matter is clarified by solving the relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock equations in the full Dirac space. The symmetry energy and its slope parameter at the saturation density are ${E}_{\text{sym}}({\ensuremath{\rho}}_{0})=33.1$ MeV and $L=65.2$ MeV, in agreement with empirical and experimental values. Further applications predict the neutron star radius ${R}_{1.4{M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}}\ensuremath{\approx}12$ km and the maximum mass of a neutron star ${M}_{\text{max}}\ensuremath{\le}2.4{M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$.

Topics & Concepts