Title
Isospin-asymmetric nuclear matter
Publication Date
Spring 2-18-2014
Document Type
Article
Abstract
This study uses classical molecular dynamics to simulate infinite nuclear matter and study the effect of isospin asymmetry on bulk properties such as energy per nucleon, pressure, saturation density, compressibility, and symmetry energy. The simulations are performed on systems embedded in periodic boundary conditions with densities and temperatures in the ranges ρ=0.02to 0.2fm−3 and T=1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 MeV, and with isospin content of x=Z/A=0.3, 0.4, and 0.5. The results indicate that symmetric and asymmetric matter are self-bound at some temperatures and exhibit phase transitions from a liquid phase to a liquid-gas mixture. The main effect of isospin asymmetry is found to be a reduction of the equilibrium densities, a softening of the compressibility and a disappearance of the liquid-gas phase transition. A procedure leading to the evaluation of the symmetry energy and its variation with the temperature was devised, implemented and compared to mean field theory results.
Comments
Lopez JA, Ramirez-Homs E, Gonzalez R, Ravelo R. Isospin-asymmetric nuclear matter. Phys Rev C 2014 02/18;89:024611.