Comparison of dynamical multifragmentation models

Multifragmentation scenarios, as predicted by antisymmetrized molecular dynamics (AMD) or momentum-dependent stochastic mean-field (BGBD) calculations are compared. While in the BGBD case fragment emission is clearly linked to the spinodal decomposition mechanism, i.e. to mean-field instabilities, in AMD many-body correlations have a stronger impact on the fragmentation dynamics and clusters start to appear at earlier times. As a consequence, fragments are formed on shorter time scales in AMD, on about equal footing of light particle pre-equilibrium emission. Conversely, in BGBD pre-equilibrium and fragment emissions happen on different time scales and are related to different mechanisms

Conversion of neutron stars to strange stars as the central engine of gamma-ray bursts

We study the conversion of a neutron star to a strange star as a possible energy source for gamma-ray bursts. We use different recent models for the equation of state of neutron star matter and strange quark matter. We show that the total amount of energy liberated in the conversion is in the range of (1-4) 10^{53} ergs (one order of magnitude larger than previous estimates) and is in agreement with the energy required to power gamma-ray burst sources at cosmological distances.Comment: ApJ, 530, 2000 February 20, Lxxx (in press

Do strange stars exist in the Universe?

Definitely, an affirmative answer to this question would have implications of fundamental importance for astrophysics (a new class of compact stars), and for the physics of strong interactions (deconfined phase of quark matter, and strange matter hypothesis). In the present work, we use observational data for the newly discovered millisecond X-ray pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 and for the atoll source 4U 1728-34 to constrain the radius of the underlying compact stars. Comparing the mass-radius relation of these two compact stars with theoretical models for both neutron stars and strange stars, we argue that a strange star model is more consistent with SAX J1808.4-3658 and 4U 1728-34, and suggest that they are likely strange star candidates.Comment: In memory of Bhaskar Datta. -- Invited talk at the Pacific Rim Conference on Stellar Astrophysics (Hong Kong, aug. 1999

Fast nucleon emission as a probe of the isospin momentum dependence

In this article we investigate the structure of the non-local part of the symmetry term, that leads to a splitting of the effective masses of protons and neutrons in asymmetric matter. Based on microscopic transport simulations we suggest some rather sensitive observables in collisions of neutron-rich (unstable) ions at intermediate ($RIA$) energies. In particular we focus the attention on pre-equilibrium nucleon emissions. We discuss interesting correlations between the N/Z content of the fast emitted particles and their rapidity or transverse momentum, that show a nice dependence on the prescription used for the effective mass splitting.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, revtex

Chiral model approach to quark matter nucleation in neutron stars

The nucleation process of quark matter in both cold and hot dense hadronic matter is investigated using a chiral approach to describe the quark phase. We use the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio and the Chromo Dielectric models to describe the deconfined phase and the non-linear Walecka model for the hadronic one. The effect of hyperons on the transition phase between hadronic and quark matter is studied. The consequences of the nucleation process for neutron star physics are outlined

Quark deconfinement and implications for the radius and the limiting mass of compact stars

We study the consequences of the hadron-quark deconfinement phase transition in stellar compact objects when finite size effects between the deconfined quark phase and the hadronic phase are taken into account. We show that above a threshold value of the central pressure (gravitational mass) a neutron star is metastable to the decay (conversion) to a hybrid neutron star or to a strange star. The "mean-life time" of the metastable configuration dramatically depends on the value of the stellar central pressure. We explore the consequences of the metastability of ``massive'' neutron stars and of the existence of stable compact quark stars (hybrid neutron stars or strange stars) on the concept of limiting mass of compact stars. We discuss the implications of our scenario on the interpretation of the stellar mass and radius extracted from the spectra of several X-ray compact sources. Finally, we show that our scenario implies, as a natural consequence a two step-process which is able to explain the inferred ``delayed'' connection between supernova explosions and GRBs, giving also the correct energy to power GRBs.Comment: 34 pages, 10 figure

Quark-hadron phase transition in a neutron star under strong magnetic fields

We study the effect of a strong magnetic field on the properties of neutron stars with a quark-hadron phase transition. It is shown that the magnetic field prevents the appearance of a quark phase, enhances the leptonic fraction, decreases the baryonic density extension of the mixed phase and stiffens the total equation of state, including both the stellar matter and the magnetic field contributions. Two parametrisations of a density dependent static magnetic field, increasing, respectively, fast and slowly with the density and reaching $2-4\times 10^{18}$G in the center of the star, are considered. The compact stars with strong magnetic fields have maximum mass configurations with larger masses and radius and smaller quark fractions. The parametrisation of the magnetic field with density has a strong influence on the star properties.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 8 tables, accepted for publication in J. Phys.

Equation of state and magnetic susceptibility of spin polarized isospin asymmetric nuclear matter

Properties of spin polarized isospin asymmetric nuclear matter are studied within the framework of the Brueckner--Hartree--Fock formalism. The single-particle potentials of neutrons and protons with spin up and down are determined for several values of the neutron and proton spin polarizations and the asymmetry parameter. It is found an almost linear and symmetric variation of the single-particle potentials as increasing these parameters. An analytic parametrization of the total energy per particle as a function of the asymmetry and spin polarizations is constructed. This parametrization is employed to compute the magnetic susceptibility of nuclear matter for several values of the asymmetry from neutron to symmetric matter. The results show no indication of a ferromagnetic transition at any density for any asymmetry of nuclear matter.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables (submitted to Phys. Rev. C