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1. Limiting masses and radii of neutron stars and their implications

   Drischler, C. ; Han, S. ; Lattimer, J. ; Prakash, M. ; Reddy, S. ; Zhao, T. ( September 2020 , ArXivorg)

   We combine equation of state of dense matter up to twice nuclear saturation density (nsat = 0.16 fm−3 ) obtained using chiral effective field theory (χEFT), and recent observations of neutron stars to gain insights about the high-density matter encountered in their cores. A key element in our study is the recent Bayesian analysis of correlated EFT truncation errors based on order-byorder calculations up to next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order in the χEFT expansion. We refine the bounds on the maximum mass imposed by causality at high densities, and provide stringent limits on the maximum and minimum radii of ∼ 1.4 M and ∼ 2.0 M stars. Including χEFT predictions from nsat to 2 nsat reduces the permitted ranges of the radius of a 1.4 M star, R1.4, by ∼ 3.5 km. If observations indicate R1.4 < 11.2 km, our study implies that either the squared speed of sound c 2 s > 1/2 for densities above 2 nsat, or that χEFT breaks down below 2 nsat. We also comment on the nature of the secondary compact object in GW190814 with mass ' 2.6 M, and discuss the implications of massive neutron stars > 2.1 M (2.6 M) in future radio and gravitational-wave searches. Some form of strongly interacting matter with c 2 s > 0.35 (0.55) must be realized in the cores of such massive neutron stars. In the absence of phase transitions below 2 nsat, the small tidal deformability inferred from GW170817 lends support for the relatively small pressure predicted by χEFT for the baryon density nB in the range 1−2 nsat. Together they imply that the rapid stiffening required to support a high maximum mass should occur only when nB & 1.5 − 1.8 nsat. 

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2. Neutron Star Radii, Deformabilities, and Moments of Inertia from Experimental and Ab Initio Theory Constraints of the 208Pb Neutron Skin Thickness

   https://doi.org/10.3390/galaxies10050099  

   Lim, Yeunhwan ; Holt, Jeremy W. ( October 2022 , Galaxies)

   Recent experimental and ab initio theory investigations of the 208Pb neutron skin thickness have the potential to inform the neutron star equation of state. In particular, the strong correlation between the 208Pb neutron skin thickness and the pressure of neutron matter at normal nuclear densities leads to modified predictions for the radii, tidal deformabilities, and moments of inertia of typical 1.4M⊙ neutron stars. In the present work, we study the relative impact of these recent analyses of the 208Pb neutron skin thickness on bulk properties of neutron stars within a Bayesian statistical analysis. Two models for the equation of state prior are employed in order to highlight the role of the highly uncertain high-density equation of state. From our combined Bayesian analysis of nuclear theory, nuclear experiment, and observational constraints on the dense matter equation of state, we find at the 90% credibility level R1.4=12.36−0.73+0.38 km for the radius of a 1.4M⊙ neutron star, R2.0=11.96−0.71+0.94 km for the radius of a 2.0M⊙ neutron star, Λ1.4=440−144+103 for the tidal deformability of a 1.4M⊙ neutron star, and I1.338=1.425−0.146+0.074×1045gcm2 for the moment of inertia of PSR J0737-3039A whose mass is 1.338M⊙. 

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3. Linking Nuclear Reactions and Nuclear Structure to Study Exotic Nuclei Using the Dispersive Optical Model

   https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58082-7_10  

   Dickhoff, W H ( January 2021 , Springer proceedings in physics)

   Escher, Jutta et (Ed.)

   The dispersive optical model (DOM) is employed to simultaneously describe elastic nucleon scattering data for 40Ca, 48Ca, and 208Pb as well as observables related to the ground state of these nuclei, with emphasis on the charge density. Such an analysis requires a fully non-local implementation of the DOM including its imaginary component. Illustrations are provided on how ingredients thus generated provide critical components for the description of the (d, p) and (e, e′p) reaction. For the nuclei with N > Z the neutron distribution is constrained by available elastic scattering and ground-state data thereby generating a prediction for the neutron skin. We identify ongoing developments including a non-local DOM analysis for 208Pb and point out possible extensions of the method to secure a successful extension of the DOM to rare isotopes. 

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4. Semileptonic form factors for $$B\rightarrow D^*\ell \nu $$ at nonzero recoil from $$2+1$$-flavor lattice QCD: Fermilab Lattice and MILC Collaborations

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-10984-9  

   Bazavov, A. ; DeTar, C. E. ; Du, D. ; El-Khadra, A. X. ; Gámiz, E. ; Gelzer, Z. ; Gottlieb, S. ; Heller, U. M. ; Kronfeld, A. S. ; Laiho, J. ; et al ( December 2022 , The European Physical Journal C)

   We present the first unquenched lattice-QCD calculation of the form factors for the decay$$B\rightarrow D^*\ell \nu $$$B\to D^{\ast }\ell \nu$at nonzero recoil. Our analysis includes 15 MILC ensembles with$$N_f=2+1$$$N_f=2+1$flavors of asqtad sea quarks, with a strange quark mass close to its physical mass. The lattice spacings range from$$a\approx 0.15$$$a\approx 0.15$fm down to 0.045 fm, while the ratio between the light- and the strange-quark masses ranges from 0.05 to 0.4. The valencebandcquarks are treated using the Wilson-clover action with the Fermilab interpretation, whereas the light sector employs asqtad staggered fermions. We extrapolate our results to the physical point in the continuum limit using rooted staggered heavy-light meson chiral perturbation theory. Then we apply a model-independent parametrization to extend the form factors to the full kinematic range. With this parametrization we perform a joint lattice-QCD/experiment fit using several experimental datasets to determine the CKM matrix element$$|V_{cb}|$$$|V_{\mathrm{cb}}|$. We obtain$$\left| V_{cb}\right| = (38.40 \pm 0.68_{\text {th}} \pm 0.34_{\text {exp}} \pm 0.18_{\text {EM}})\times 10^{-3}$$$\left(V_{\mathrm{cb}}\right)=(38.40\pm 0.{68}_{\text{th}}\pm 0.{34}_{\text{exp}}\pm 0.{18}_{\text{EM}})\times {10}^{-3}$. The first error is theoretical, the second comes from experiment and the last one includes electromagnetic and electroweak uncertainties, with an overall$$\chi ^2\text {/dof} = 126/84$$${\chi }^2\text{/dof}=126/84$, which illustrates the tensions between the experimental data sets, and between theory and experiment. This result is in agreement with previous exclusive determinations, but the tension with the inclusive determination remains. Finally, we integrate the differential decay rate obtained solely from lattice data to predict$$R(D^*) = 0.265 \pm 0.013$$$R\left(D^{\ast }\right)=0.265\pm 0.013$, which confirms the current tension between theory and experiment.

    

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5. Equation of state of hot dense hyperonic matter in the Quark–Meson-Coupling (QMC-A) model

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa4006  

   Stone, J R ; Dexheimer, V ; Guichon, P A ; Thomas, A W ; Typel, S ( February 2021 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   null (Ed.)

   ABSTRACT We report a new equation of state (EoS) of cold and hot hyperonic matter constructed in the framework of the quark–meson-coupling (QMC-A) model. The QMC-A EoS yields results compatible with available nuclear physics constraints and astrophysical observations. It covers the range of temperatures from T = 0 to 100 MeV, entropies per particle S/A between 0 and 6, lepton fractions from YL = 0.0 to 0.6, and baryon number densities nB = 0.05–1.2 fm−3. Applications of the QMC-A EoS are made to cold neutron stars (NSs) and to hot proto-neutron stars (PNSs) in two scenarios: (i) lepton-rich matter with trapped neutrinos (PNS-I) and (ii) deleptonized chemically equilibrated matter (PNS-II). We find that the QMC-A model predicts hyperons in amounts growing with increasing temperature and density, thus suggesting not only their presence in PNS but also, most likely, in NS merger remnants. The nucleon–hyperon phase transition is studied through the adiabatic index and the speed of sound cs. We observe that the lowering of (cs/c)2 to and below the conformal limit of 1/3 is strongly correlated with the onset of hyperons. Rigid rotation of cold and hot stars, their moments of inertia and Kepler frequencies are also explored. The QMC-A model results are compared with two relativistic models, the chiral mean field model (CMF), and the generalized relativistic density functional (GRDF) with DD2 (nucleon-only) and DD2Y-T (full baryon octet) interactions. Similarities and differences are discussed. 

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