Building neutron stars with the MUSES calculation engine

Exploring the equation of state of dense matter is an essential part of interpreting the observable properties of neutron stars. We present here the first results for dense matter in the zero-temperature limit generated by the MUSES calculation engine, a composable workflow management system that orchestrates calculation and data processing stages comprising a collection of software modules designed within the MUSES framework. The modules presented in this work calculate equations of state using algorithms spanning three different theories/models: (1) crust density functional theory, valid starting at low densities, (2) chiral effective field theory, valid around saturation density, and (3) the chiral mean field model, valid beyond saturation density. Lepton contributions are added through the lepton module to each equation of state, ensuring charge neutrality and the possibility of $\ensuremath{\beta}$-equilibrium. Using the synthesis module, we match the three equations of state using different thermodynamic variables and different methods. We then couple the complete equation of state to a novel full-general-relativity solver (QLIMR) module that calculates neutron star properties. We find that the matching performed using different thermodynamic variables affects differently the range obtained for neutron star masses and radii (although never beyond a few percent difference). We also investigate the universality of equation of state-independent relations for our matched stars. Finally, for the first time, we use the flavor equilibration module to estimate bulk viscosity and flavor relaxation charge fraction and rates (at low temperature) for chiral effective field theory and the chiral mean field model.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
Published
2025-05-19
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.103037
Citations
9
Primary Topic
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
10.39

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article

Building neutron stars with the MUSES calculation engine

Nikolas Cruz-Camacho, Roland Haas, Jacquelyn Noronha-Hostler, Maurício Hippert et al.
9 citations
Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
10.39
article

Building neutron stars with the MUSES calculation engine

Nikolas Cruz-Camacho, Roland Haas, Jacquelyn Noronha-Hostler, Maurício Hippert, Alexander Clevinger, Yumu Yang, Mateus R. Pelicer, Nicolás Yunes, Claudia Ratti, Volodymyr Vovchenko, Andrew W. Steiner, Joaquin Grefa, Hung Tan, Verônica Dexheimer, J. B. Peterson, Jorge Noronha, Alexander Haber, Mark Alford, Jeremy W. Holt, T. Andrew Manning, Micheal Kahangirwe, Rajesh Kumar, Ziyuan Zhang, Johannès Jahan, S. Roy, Haq Nawaz Shah, Carlos Conde-Ocazionez, David Friedenberg
article en
9 citations

Abstract

Exploring the equation of state of dense matter is an essential part of interpreting the observable properties of neutron stars. We present here the first results for dense matter in the zero-temperature limit generated by the MUSES calculation engine, a composable workflow management system that orchestrates calculation and data processing stages comprising a collection of software modules designed within the MUSES framework. The modules presented in this work calculate equations of state using algorithms spanning three different theories/models: (1) crust density functional theory, valid starting at low densities, (2) chiral effective field theory, valid around saturation density, and (3) the chiral mean field model, valid beyond saturation density. Lepton contributions are added through the lepton module to each equation of state, ensuring charge neutrality and the possibility of $\ensuremath{\beta}$-equilibrium. Using the synthesis module, we match the three equations of state using different thermodynamic variables and different methods. We then couple the complete equation of state to a novel full-general-relativity solver (QLIMR) module that calculates neutron star properties. We find that the matching performed using different thermodynamic variables affects differently the range obtained for neutron star masses and radii (although never beyond a few percent difference). We also investigate the universality of equation of state-independent relations for our matched stars. Finally, for the first time, we use the flavor equilibration module to estimate bulk viscosity and flavor relaxation charge fraction and rates (at low temperature) for chiral effective field theory and the chiral mean field model.

Physical review. D/Physical review. D.Vol. 111(10)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US), Kent State University (US), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US), Washington University in St. Louis (US), Western Wyoming Community College (US), Mitchell Institute (US), Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (BR), University of Houston (US), Syracuse University (US), University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US), Texas A&M University (US)
National Science Foundation
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
10.39
DOISourceOpenAlex
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