We explore the appearance of light clusters at high densities of collapsing stellar cores. Special attention is paid to the unstable isotope H4, which was not included in previous studies. The importance of light clusters in the calculation of rates
for neutrino matter interaction is discussed. The main conclusion is that thermodynamic quantities are only weakly sensitive to the chemical composition. The change in pressure and hence the direct change in collapse dynamics will be minor. But the change in neutrino heating and neutronization processes can be significant.
In this work we present a newly constructed equation of state (EoS) --applicable to stellar core collapse and neutron star mergers--, including the entire baryon octet. Our EoS is compatible with the main constraints from nuclear physics and, in part
icular, with a maximum mass for cold beta-equilibrated neutron stars of 2 solar masses in agreement with recent observations. As an application of our new EoS, we compute numerical stationary models for rapidly (rigidly) rotating hot neutron stars. We consider maximum masses of hot stars, such as proto-neutron stars or hypermassive neutron stars in the post-merger phase of binary neutron star coalescence. The universality of I-Q-relations at nonzero temperature for fast rotating models, comparing a purely nuclear EoS with its counterparts containing Lambda-hyperons or the entire baryon octet, respectively, is discussed, too. We find that the I-Q universality is broken when thermal effects become important, whatever the value of entropy gradients in our models. Thus, the use of I-Q relations for the analysis of proto-neutron stars or merger remnant data, including gravitational wave signals from the last stages of binary neutron star mergers, should be regarded with care.
As the density of matter increases, atomic nuclei disintegrate into nucleons and, eventually, the nucleons themselves disintegrate into quarks. The phase transitions (PTs) between these phases can vary from steep first order to smooth crossovers, dep
ending on certain conditions. First-order PTs with more than one globally conserved charge, so-called non-congruent PTs, have characteristic differences compared to congruent PTs. In this conference proceeding we discuss the non-congruence of the quark deconfinement PT at high densities and/or temperatures relevant for heavy-ion collisions, neutron stars, proto-neutron stars, supernova explosions, and compact-star mergers.
We give an overview about equations of state (EOS) which are currently available for simulations of core-collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers. A few selected important aspects of the EOS, such as the symmetry energy, the maximum mass of neutr
on stars, and cluster formation, are confronted with constraints from experiments and astrophysical observations. There are just very few models which are compatible even with this very restricted set of constraints. These remaining models illustrate the uncertainty of the uniform nuclear matter EOS at high densities. In addition, at finite temperatures the medium modifications of nuclear clusters represent a conceptual challenge. In conclusion, there has been significant development in the recent years, but there is still need for further improved general purpose EOS tables.
We present multi-dimensional core-collapse supernova simulations using the Isotropic Diffusion Source Approximation (IDSA) for the neutrino transport and a modified potential for general relativity in two different supernova codes: FLASH and ELEPHANT
. Due to the complexity of the core-collapse supernova explosion mechanism, simulations require not only high-performance computers and the exploitation of GPUs, but also sophisticated approximations to capture the essential microphysics. We demonstrate that the IDSA is an elegant and efficient neutrino radiation transfer scheme, which is portable to multiple hydrodynamics codes and fast enough to investigate long-term evolutions in two and three dimensions. Simulations with a 40 solar mass progenitor are presented in both FLASH (1D and 2D) and ELEPHANT (3D) as an extreme test condition. It is found that the black hole formation time is delayed in multiple dimensions and we argue that the strong standing accretion shock instability before black hole formation will lead to strong gravitational waves.
Precision mass spectrometry of neutron-rich nuclei is of great relevance for astrophysics. Masses of exotic nuclides impose constraints on models for the nuclear interaction and thus affect the description of the equation of state of nuclear matter,
which can be extended to describe neutron-star matter. With knowledge of the masses of nuclides near shell closures, one can also derive the neutron-star crustal composition. The Penning-trap mass spectrometer ISOLTRAP at CERN-ISOLDE has recently achieved a breakthrough measuring the mass of 82Zn, which allowed constraining neutron-star crust composition to deeper layers (Wolf et al., PRL 110, 2013). We perform a more detailed study on the sequence of nuclei in the outer crust of neutron stars with input from different nuclear models to illustrate the sensitivity to masses and the robustness of neutron-star models. The dominant role of the N=50 and N=82 closed neutron shells for the crustal composition is confirmed.
The implications of a QCD phase transition at high temperatures and densities for core-collapse supernovae are discussed. For a strong first order phase transition to quark matter, various scenarios have been put forward in the literature. Here, deta
iled numerical simulations including neutrino transport are presented, where it is found that a second shock wave due to the QCD phase transition emerges shortly after bounce. It is demonstrated that such a supernova banging twice results in a second peak in the antineutrino spectrum. This second peak is clearly detectable in present neutrino detectors for a galactic supernova.
Some recent developments concerning the role of strange quark matter for astrophysical systems and the QCD phase transition in the early universe are addressed. Causality constraints of the soft nuclear equation of state as extracted from subthreshol
d kaon production in heavy-ion collisions are used to derive an upper mass limit for compact stars. The interplay between the viscosity of strange quark matter and the gravitational wave emission from rotation-powered pulsars are outlined. The flux of strange quark matter nuggets in cosmic rays is put in perspective with a detailed numerical investigation of the merger of two strange stars. Finally, we discuss a novel scenario for the QCD phase transition in the early universe, which allows for a small inflationary period due to a pronounced first order phase transition at large baryochemical potential.
The possible role of a first order QCD phase transition at nonvanishing quark chemical potential and temperature for cold neutron stars and for supernovae is delineated. For cold neutron stars, we use the NJL model with nonvanishing color superconduc
ting pairing gaps, which describes the phase transition to the 2SC and the CFL quark matter phases at high baryon densities. We demonstrate that these two phase transitions can both be present in the core of neutron stars and that they lead to the appearance of a third family of solution for compact stars. In particular, a core of CFL quark matter can be present in stable compact star configurations when slightly adjusting the vacuum pressure to the onset of the chiral phase transition from the hadronic model to the NJL model. We show that a strong first order phase transition can have strong impact on the dynamics of core collapse supernovae. If the QCD phase transition sets in shortly after the first bounce, a second outgoing shock wave can be generated which leads to an explosion. The presence of the QCD phase transition can be read off from the neutrino and antineutrino signal of the supernova.
The implications of the formation of strange quark matter in neutron stars and in core-collapse supernovae is discussed with special emphasis on the possibility of having a strong first order QCD phase transition at high baryon densities. If strange
quark matter is formed in core-collapse supernovae shortly after the bounce, it causes the launch of a second outgoing shock which is energetic enough to lead to a explosion. A signal for the formation of strange quark matter can be read off from the neutrino spectrum, as a second peak in antineutrinos is released when the second shock runs over the neutrinosphere.
