The roles of isospin asymmetry in nuclei and neutron stars are investigated
using a range of potential and field-theoretical models of nucleonic matter.
The parameters of these models are fixed by fitting the properties of
homogeneous bulk matter and closed-shell nuclei. We discuss and unravel the
causes of correlations among the neutron skin thickness in heavy nuclei, the
pressure of beta-equilibrated matter at a density of 0.1 fm−3, the
derivative of the nuclear symmetry energy at the same density and the radii of
moderate mass neutron stars. Constraints on the symmetry properties of nuclear
matter from the binding energies of nuclei are examined. The extent to which
forthcoming neutron skin measurements will further delimit the symmetry
properties is investigated. The impact of symmetry energy constraints for the
mass and moment of inertia contained within neutron star crusts and the
threshold density for the nucleon direct Urca process, all of which are
potentially measurable, is explored. We also comment on the minimum neutron
star radius, assuming that only nucleonic matter exists within the star.Comment: 49 pages, 17 figures, Phys. Rep. (in press); made improvements to
"RAPR" and corrected transition densitie