Cosmochemistry Commons^™

Thermodynamic Properties Of Neutron-Rich Matter, Matt Tilley, Bao-An Li

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The mechanism of supernova explosion and properties of neutron stars are uniquely determined by the equation of state of neutron-rich matter. Using a phenomenological equation of state within a thermal model, we study thermodynamic properties of neutron-rich matter. In particular, we investigate chemical (diffusive) and mechanical (isothermal) instabilities of neutron-rich matter and their dependence on the nuclear equation of state. Both instabilities are found to be heavily dependent upon the isospin asymmetry, temperature, and density of neutron-rich matter. We show that the boundary of the chemical instability extends farther out into the density-isospin symmetry plane than that of the mechanical …