Kaon condensation in neutron stars and high density behaviour of nuclear symmetry energy

We study the influence of a high density behaviour of the nuclear symmetry energy on a kaon condensation in neutron stars. We find that the symmetry energy typical for several realistic nuclear potentials, which decreases at high densities, inhibits kaon condensation for weaker kaon-nucleon couplings. There exists a threshold coupling above which the kaon condensate forms at densities exceeding some critical value. This is in contrast to the case of rising symmetry energy, as e.g. for relativistic mean field models, when the kaon condensate can form for any coupling at a sufficiently high density. Properties of the condensate are also different in both cases.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, Acta Phys. Pol. B in pres

Kaon Condensates, Nuclear Symmetry Energy and Cooling of Neutron Stars

The cooling of neutron stars by URCA processes in the kaon-condensed neutron star matter for various forms of nuclear symmetry energy is investigated. The kaon-nucleon interactions are described by a chiral lagrangian. Nuclear matter energy is parametrized in terms of the isoscalar contribution and the nuclear symmetry energy in the isovector sector. High density behaviour of nuclear symmetry energy plays an essential role in determining the composition of the kaon-condensed neutron star matter which in turn affects the cooling properties. We find that the symmetry energy which decreases at higher densities makes the kaon-condensed neutron star matter fully protonized. This effect inhibits strongly direct URCA processes resulting in slower cooling of neutron stars as only kaon-induced URCA cycles are present. In contrast, for increasing symmetry energy direct URCA processes are allowed in the almost whole density range where the kaon condensation exists.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, elsart clas

Shell model study of the pairing correlations

A systematic study of the pairing correlations as a function of temperature and angular momentum has been performed in the sd-shell region using the spherical shell model approach. The pairing correlations have been derived for even-even, even-odd and odd-odd systems near N=Z and also for the asymmetric case of N=Z+4. The results indicate that the pairing content and the behavior of pair correlations is similar in even-even and odd-mass nuclei. For odd-odd N=Z system, angular momentum I=0 state is an isospin, t=1 neutron-proton paired configuration. Further, these t=1 correlations are shown to be dramatically reduced for the asymmetric case of N=Z+4. The shell model results obtained are qualitatively explained within a simplified degenerate model

Low Energy Skyrmion-Skyrmion Scattering

We study the scattering of Skyrmions at low energy and large separation using the method proposed by Manton of truncation to a finite number of degrees freedom. We calculate the induced metric on the manifold of the union of gradient flow curves, which for large separation, to first non-trivial order is parametrized by the variables of the product ansatz. (presented at the Lake Louise Winter Institute, 1994)Comment: 6 page

Is dark matter present in NGC4736? An iterative spectral method for finding mass distribution in spiral galaxies

An iterative method for reconstructing mass distribution in spiral galaxies using a thin disk approximation is developed. As an example, the method is applied to galaxy NGC 4736; its rotation curve does not allow one to employ a model with a massive spherical halo. We find a global mass distribution in this galaxy (without non-baryonic dark matter) that agrees perfectly with the high resolution rotation curve of the galaxy. This mass distribution is consistent with the $I$-band luminosity profile with the mean mass-to-light ratio $M/L_I=1.2$, and also agrees with the amount of hydrogen observed in the outermost regions of the galaxy. We predict the total mass of the galaxy to be only 3.43\times10^{10}M_{\sun}. It is very close to the value predicted by the modified gravity models and much less than the currently accepted value of 5.0\times10^{10}M_{\sun} (with $\approx70$ of the mass in a dark matter halo).Comment: in v2 version: 1) changed the reference luminosities of the Sun in different bands - this affects mass-to-light ratio, giving more reliable 1.2 in the I-band, 2) found typos corrected, 3) corrected references to literature, figures and equations 4) text permutations + language corrections, accepted for publication in ApJ, May 200

Nuclear Matter in Relativistic Mean Field Theory with Isovector Scalar Meson

Relativistic mean field (RMF) theory of nuclear matter with the isovector scalar mean field corresponding to the delta-meson [a_0(980)] is studied. While the delta-meson mean field vanishes in symmetric nuclear matter, it can influence properties of asymmetric nuclear matter in neutron stars. The RMF contribution due to delta-field to the nuclear symmetry energy is negative. To fit the empirical value, E_s=30 MeV, a stronger rho-meson coupling is required than in the absence of the delta-field. The energy per particle of neutron matter is then larger at high densities than the one with no delta-field included. Also, the proton fraction of beta-stable matter increases. Splitting of proton and neutron effective masses due to the delta-field can affect transport properties of neutron star matter.Comment: 13 pages, plain TeX, 6 figures, Physics Letters B in pres

Equation of state for dense supernova matter

We provide an equation of state for high density supernova matter by applying a momentum-dependent effective interaction. We focus on the study of the equation of state of high-density and high-temperature nuclear matter containing leptons (electrons and neutrinos) under the chemical equilibrium condition. The conditions of charge neutrality and equilibrium under $\beta$-decay process lead first to the evaluation of the lepton fractions and afterwards the evaluation of internal energy, pressure, entropy and in total to the equation of state of hot nuclear matter for various isothermal cases. Thermal effects on the properties and equation of state of nuclear matter are evaluated and analyzed in the framework of the proposed effective interaction model. Since supernova matter is characterized by a constant entropy we also present the thermodynamic properties for isentropic case. Special attention is dedicated to the study of the contribution of the components of $\beta$-stable nuclear matter to the entropy per particle, a quantity of great interest for the study of structure and collapse of supernova.Comment: 23 pages, 15 figure

Skyrmions from a Born-Infeld Action

We consider a geometrically motivated Skyrme model based on a general covariant kinetic term proposed originally by Born and Infeld. We introduce this new term by generalizing the Born-Infeld action to a non-abelian $SU(2)$ gauge theory and by using the hidden gauge symmetry formalism. The static properties of the Skyrmion are then analyzed and compared with other Skyrme-like models.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures (not included), revtex v3, LAVAL-PHY-11-9