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Débora P. Menezes

Publications and source records attributed to Débora P. Menezes.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Consistent relativistic mean field models constrained by GW170817

We have obtained the Love number and corresponding tidal deformabilites ($Λ$) associated with the relativistic mean-field parametrizations shown to be consistent (CRMF) with the nuclear matter, pure neutron matter, symmetry energy and its derivatives [Dutra, et al., Phys. Rev. C 90, 055203 (2014)]. Our results show that CRMF models present very good agreement with the recent data from binary neutron star merger event GW170817. They also confirm the strong correlation between $Λ_{1.4}$ and the radius of canonical stars ($R_{1.4}$). When a recently GW170817 constraint on $Λ_{1.4}$ and the corresponding radius $R_{1.4}$ is used, the majority of the models tested are shown to satisfy it.

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Can generalized TOV equations explain neutron star macroscopic properties?

In the quest for describing massive neutron stars with radii compatible with recent expectations, we take a different approach in the present paper and, instead of tuning the equations of state, we use an appropriate parameterization of the TOV equations that result in increasing the maximum mass and decreasing the respective radius and consequently, also the radius of canonical stars.

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Women in Physics: Scissors Effect from the Brazilian Olympiad of Physics to Professional Life

Despite the legislation in force in most countries and the discourse on gender equality, the observed reality, still today, shows a clear picture of inequality and restrictions for women, particularly when the issue is the choice of a career and the subsequent promotions. In many professions, although women represent the majority in the entrance to undergraduate courses, their participation is dramatically reduced as the career progresses to the highest levels. While the participation of men increases, that of women decreases as the academic levels move towards the top ranks. This kind of evolution of two groups in opposed directions is usually referred as the "scissors effect". This effect with respect to sexes also occurs in the area of physics, both in Brazil and in the rest of the world. But at what age does this effect begin? What is its intensity in the different stages of women's lives? In this article we aim to shed some light on these questions by analyzing data of the Brazilian Olympiad of Physics and of fellowships for physicists in Brazil. We observe the systematic occurrence of scissors effect throughout the full studied data, ranging from the first years of participation in the Olympiads (13 years old) to the highest stages of the scientific career.

physics.ed-ph↗

Hadron-quark phase transition: the QCD phase diagram and stellar conversion

Different extensions of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model, known to satisfy expected QCD chiral symmetry aspects, are used to investigate a possible hadron-quark phase transition at zero temperature and to build the corresponding binodal sections. We have shown that the transition point is very sensitive to the model parameters and that both pressure and chemical potential increase drastically with the increase of the vector interaction strength in the quark sector. Within the same framework, the possibility of quark and hybrid star formation is analyzed. The same conclusions drawn before with respect to the coexistence pressure and chemical potentials are reinforced. We conclude that even if a transition from a metastable hadronic star to a quark star is thermodinamically possible, it is either energetically forbidden or gives rise to a blackhole. Nevertheless, conversions from metastable to hybrid stars are possible, but the mass difference between both compact objects is very small, never larger than 0.2 M$_\odot$.

astro-ph.HE↗

The symmetry energy $γ$ parameter of relativistic mean-field models

The relativistic mean-field models tested in previous works against nuclear matter experimental values, critical parameters and macroscopic stellar properties are revisited and used in the evaluation of the symmetry energy $γ$ parameter obtained in three different ways. We have checked that independent of the choice made to calculate the $γ$ values, a trend of linear correlation is observed between $γ$ and the symmetry energy ($\mathcal{S}_0$) and a more clear linear relationship is established between $γ$ and the slope of the symmetry energy ($L_0$). These results directly contribute to the arising of other linear correlations between $γ$ and the neutron star radii of $R_{1.0}$ and $R_{1.4}$, in agreement with recent findings. Finally, we have found that short-range correlations induce two specific parametrizations, namely, IU-FSU and DD-ME$δ$, simultaneouslycompatible with the neutron star mass constraint of $1.93 < M_{max}/M_\odot < 2.05$ and with the overlap band for the $L_0\times\mathcal{S}_0$ region, to present $γ$ in the range of $γ=0.25\pm0.05$.

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The role of strangeness and isospin in low density expansions of hadronic matter

We compare relativistic mean field models with their low density expansion counterparts used to mimic non-relativistic models by consistently expanding the baryonic scalar density in powers of the baryonic number density up to ${\cal O}(13/3)$, which goes two orders beyond the order considered in previous works. We show that, due to the non-trivial density dependence of the Dirac mass, the convergence of the expansion is very slow, and the validity of the non-relativistic approximation {\bf is} questionable even at subsaturation densities. In order to analyze the roles played by strangeness and isospin we consider $n-Λ$ and $n-p$ matter separately. Our results indicate that these degrees of freedom play quite different roles in the expansion mechanism and $n-Λ$ matter can be better described by low density expansions than $n-p$ matter in general.

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Phase transition in compact stars: nucleation mechanism and $γ$-ray bursts revisited

We have revisited the nucleation process based on the Lifshitz-Kagan theory, which is the underlying mechanism of conversion of a pulsar constituted of hadronic matter to a quark star. We have selected appropriate models that have been tested against experimental and observational constraints to restrict the model arbitrariness present in previous investigations. The phase transition pressures and chemical potentials have been identified and afterwards, the tunneling probabilities and the nucleation time were computed. The critical pressures for which the half life of the metastable hadronic phase is one year were obtained. Even with the restrictions imposed to the selection of models, the results remained model dependent, but we found that the tunneling that makes possible the appearance of stable matter requires an overpressure that is practically independent of the quark matter bag constant. Finally, we have confirmed that the nucleation process can be one of the causes of gamma-ray bursts.

astro-ph.HE↗

Hyperons in the pasta phase

We have investigated under which conditions hyperons (particularly $Λ$s and $Σ^-$s) can be found in the pasta phase. The larger the density and the temperature and the smaller the electron fraction the higher the probability that these particles appear but always in very small amounts. $Λ$-hyperons only occur in the gas and in smaller amounts than would occur if matter were homogeneous, never with abundancies above 10$^{-5}$. The amount of $Σ^-$ in the gas is at least two orders of magnitude smaller and can be disregarded in practical calculations.

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Quark matter revisited with non extensive MIT bag model

In this work we revisit the MIT bag model to describe quark matter within both the usual Fermi-Dirac and the Tsallis statistics. We verify the effects of the non-additivity of the latter by analysing two different pictures: the first order phase transition of the QCD phase diagram and stellar matter properties. While, the QCD phase diagram is visually affected by the Tsallis statistics, the resulting effects on quark star macroscopic properties are barely noticed.

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Pasta phases within the QMC model

In this work the low density regions of nuclear and neutron star matter are studied. The search for the existence of pasta phases in this region is performed within the context of the quark-meson coupling (QMC) model, which incorporates quark degrees of freedom. Fixed proton fractions are considered, as well as nuclear matter in beta equilibrium at zero temperature. We discuss the recent attempts to better understand the surface energy in the coexistence phases regime and we present results that show the existence of the pasta phases subject to some choices of the surface energy coefficient. We also analyze the influence of the nuclear pasta on some neutron star properties. The equation of state containing the pasta phase will be part of a complete grid for future use in supernova simulations.

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Stellar properties and nuclear matter constraints

We have analyzed stellar properties of the relativistic mean-field (RMF) parametrizations shown to be consistent with the recently studied constraints related to nuclear matter, pure neutron matter, symmetry energy and its derivatives [Dutra et al., Phys. Rev. C 90, 055203 (2014)]. Our results show that only two RMF parametrizations do not allow the emergence of the direct Urca process, important aspect regarding the evolution of a neutron star. Moreover, among all approved RMF models, fourteen of them produce neutron stars with maximum masses inside the range $1.93\leqslant M/M_\odot\leqslant 2.05$, with $M_\odot$ being the solar mass. Only three models yield maximum masses above this range and a discussion on the inclusion of hyperons is presented. Finally, we have verified that the models satisfying the neutron star maximum mass constraint do not observe the squared sound velocity bound, namely, $v_s^2 < 1/3$, corroborating recent findings. However, the recently proposed $σ$-cut scheme can make the RMF models consistent with both constraints depending on the isoscalar-vector interaction of each parametrization.

astro-ph.HE↗

Maxwell equation violation by density dependent magnetic fields in neutron stars

We show that the widely used density dependent magnetic field prescriptions, necessary to account for the variation of the field intensity from the crust to the core of neutron stars violate one of the Maxwell equations. We estimate how strong the violation is when different equations of state are used and check for which cases the pathological problem can be cured.

astro-ph.HE↗

Neutron stars: from the inner crust to the core with the (Extended) Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model

Nucleonic matter is described within a su(2) extended Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. Several parametrizations with different nuclear matter saturation properties are proposed. At subsaturation, nuclear pasta phases are calculated within two methods: the coexistence-phases approximation and the compressible liquid drop model, with the surface tension coefficient determined using a geometrical approach at zero temperature. An unified equation of state of stellar matter for the inner crust, with the nuclear pasta phases, and the core is calculated. The mass and radius of neutron stars within this framework are obtained for several families of hadronic and hybrid stars. The quark phase of hybrid stars is described within the su(3) NJL model including a vector term. Stellar macroscopic properties are in accordance with some of the recent results in the literature.

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Non extensive thermodynamics and neutron star properties

In the present work we apply non extensive statistics to obtain equations of state suitable to describe stellar matter and verify its effects on microscopic and macroscopic quantities. Two snapshots of the star evolution are considered and the direct Urca process is investigated with two different parameter sets. $q$-values are chosen as 1.05 and 1.14. The equations of state are only slightly modified, but the effects are enough to produce stars with slightly higher maximum masses. The onsets of the constituents are more strongly affected and the internal stellar temperature decreases with the increase of the $q$-value, with consequences on the strangeness and cooling rates of the stars.

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Liquid-gas phase transition in strange hadronic matter with relativistic models

Background: The advent of new dedicated experimental programs on hyperon physics is rapidly boosting the field, and the possibility of synthetizing multiple strange hypernuclei requires the addition of the strangeness degree of freedom to the models dedicated to nuclear structure and nuclear matter studies at low energy. Purpose: We want to settle the influence of strangeness on the nuclear liquid-gas phase transition. Because of the large uncertainties concerning the hyperon sector, we do not aim at a quantitative estimation of the phase diagram but rather at a qualitative description of the phenomenology, as model independent as possible. Method: We analyze the phase diagram of low density matter composed of neutrons, protons and $Λ$ hyperons using a Relativistic Mean Field (RMF) model. We largely explore the parameter space to pin down generic features of the phase transition, and compare the results to ab-initio quantum Monte Carlo calculations. Results: We show that the liquid-gas phase transition is only slightly quenched by the addition of hyperons. Strangeness is seen to be an order parameter of the phase transition, meaning that dilute strange matter is expected to be unstable with respect to the formation of hyper-clusters. Conclusions: More quantitative results within the RMF model need improved functionals at low density, possibly fitted to ab-initio calculations of nuclear and $Λ$ matter.

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Influence of the inverse magnetic catalysis and the vector interaction in the location of the critical end point

The effect of a strong magnetic field on the location of the critical end point (CEP) in the QCD phase diagram is discussed under different scenarios. In particular, we consider the contribution of the vector interaction and take into account the inverse magnetic catalysis obtained in lattice QCD calculations at zero chemical potential. The discussion is realized within the (2+1) Polyakov--Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. It is shown that the vector interaction and the magnetic field have opposite competing effects, and that the winning effect depends strongly on the intensity of the magnetic field. The inverse magnetic catalysis at zero chemical potential has two distinct effects for magnetic fields above $\gtrsim 0.3$ GeV$^2$: it shifts the CEP to lower chemical potentials, hinders the increase of the CEP temperature and prevents a too large increase of the baryonic density at the CEP. For fields $eB<0.1$ GeV$^2$ the competing effects between the vector contribution and the magnetic field can move the CEP to regions of temperature and density in the phase diagram that could be more easily accessible to experiments.

hep-ph↗

Preliminary EoS for core-collapse supernova simulations with the QMC model

In this work we present the preliminary results of a complete equation of state (EoS) for core-collapse supernova simulations. We treat uniform matter made of nucleons using the the quark-meson coupling (QMC) model. We show a table with a variety of thermodynamic quantities, which covers the proton fraction range $Y_{p}=0-0.65$ with the linear grid spacing $ ΔY_{p}=0.01$ ($66$ points) and the density range $ρ_{B}=10^{14}-10^{16}$g.cm$^{-3}$ with the logarithmic grid spacing $Δlog_{10}(ρ_{B}/[$g.cm$^{-3}])=0.1 $ ($21$ points). This preliminary study is performed at zero temperature and our results are compared with the widely used EoS already available in the literature.

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