Spectrum of shear modes in the neutron-star crust: Estimating the nuclear-physics uncertainties

摘要

I construct a model of the inner crust of neutron stars using interactionsfrom chiral effective field theory (EFT) in order to calculate its equation ofstate (EOS), shear properties, and the spectrum of crustal shear modes. Isystematically study uncertainties associated with the nuclear physics input,the crust composition, and neutron entrainment, and estimate their impact oncrustal shear properties and the shear-mode spectrum. I find that theuncertainties originate mainly in two sources: The neutron-matter EOS andneutron entrainment. I compare the spectrum of crustal shear modes to observedfrequencies of quasi-periodic oscillations in the afterglow of giant$\gamma$-ray bursts and find that all of these frequencies could be describedwithin uncertainties, which are, however, at present too sizable to inferneutron-star properties from observations.