Neutron fraction and neutrino mean free path predictions in relativistic mean field models

Abstract

The equation of state (EOS) of dense matter and neutrino mean free path (NMFP) in a neutron star have been studied by using relativistic mean field models motivated by effective field theory. It is found that the models predict too large proton fractions, although one of the models (G2) predicts an acceptable EOS. This is caused by the isovector terms. Except G2, the other two models predict anomalous NMFP's. In order to minimize the anomaly, besides an acceptable EOS, a large ${M}^{*}$ is favorable. A model with large ${M}^{*}$ retains the regularity in the NMFP even for a small neutron fraction.