Hyperneutron Stars from an Ab Initio Calculation

Abstract

The equation of state (EOS) of neutron matter plays a decisive role in understanding the neutron star properties and the gravitational waves from neutron star mergers. At sufficient densities, the appearance of hyperons generally softens the EOS, leading to a reduction in the maximum mass of neutron stars well below the observed values of about 2 M _⊙ . Even though repulsive three-body forces are known to solve this so-called “hyperon puzzle,” so far performing ab initio calculations with a substantial number of hyperons for neutron star properties has remained elusive. Starting from the newly developed auxiliary field quantum Monte Carlo algorithm to simulate hyperneutron matter without any sign oscillations, we derive three distinct EOSs by employing the state-of-the-art nuclear lattice effective field theory. We include N Λ, ΛΛ two-body forces, NN Λ, and N ΛΛ three-body forces. Consequently, we determine essential astrophysical quantities such as the neutron star mass, radius, tidal deformability, and universal I –Love– Q relation. The maximum mass, radius, and tidal deformability of a 1.4 M _⊙ neutron star are predicted to be 2.17(1)(1) M _⊙ , R _1.4 _M _⊙ = 13.10(1)(7) km, and ${{\rm{\Lambda }}}_{1.4{M}_{\odot }}=597(5)(18)$ , respectively, based on our most realistic EOS. These predictions are in good agreement with the latest astrophysical constraints derived from observations of massive neutron stars, gravitational waves, and joint mass–radius measurements. In addition, for the first time in ab initio calculations, we investigate both nonrotating and rotating neutron star configurations. The results indicate that the impact of rotational dynamics on the maximum mass is small, regardless of whether hyperons are present in the EOS or not.

Keywords

• Nuclear physics