The equation of state of dense skyrmion matter

Abstract

In the context of effective topological soliton theories of baryonic interactions, methods for determining the thermodynamic properties of dense matter in the solid and liquid states are presented. In particular, simulations involving a face-centered cubic lattice of skyrmions are used to construct the equation of state for dense neutron matter. The implications for neutron star structure are discussed, and comparisons are made with previous calculations. These techniques are also applied with some success to both symmetric and asymmetric nuclear matter in the Skyrme model. Possibilities for further improvement are outlined.