Medium polarization and pairing in asymmetric nuclear matter

Abstract

The many-body theory of asymmetric nuclear matter is developed beyond the Brueckner–Hartree–Fock approximation to incorporate the medium polarization effects. The extension is performed within the Babu–Brown induced interaction theory. After deriving the particle–hole interaction in the form of Landau–Migdal parameters, the effects of the induced component on the symmetry energy are investigated along with the screening of ¹S₀ proton–proton and ³PF₂ neutron–neutron pairing, which are relevant for the neutron-star cooling. The crossover from repulsive (screening) to attractive (anti-screening) interaction going from pure neutron matter to symmetric nuclear matter is discussed.