Fluctuations in the pasta phase

Mateus R. Pelicer, Débora P. Menezes, Celso C. Barros Jr, Francesca Gulminelli

Published 2021-05-07Version 1

Baryonic matter close to the saturation density is very likely to present complex inhomogeneous structures collectively known under the name of pasta phase. At finite temperature, the different geometric structures are expected to coexist, with potential consequences on the neutron star crust conductivity and neutrino transport in supernova matter. In the framework of a statistical multi-component approach, we calculate the composition of matter in the pasta phase considering density, proton fraction, and geometry fluctuations. Using a realistic energy functional from relativistic mean field theory and a temperature and isospin dependent surface tension fitted from Thomas-Fermi calculations, we show that different geometries can coexist in a large fraction of the pasta phase, down to temperatures of the order of the crystallization temperature of the neutron star crust. Quantitative estimates of the charge fluctuations are given.