Speaker
Description
Nuclear energy density functional (EDF) theory provides a unified framework for describing both static and dynamical properties of nuclei and extended nuclear matter. In particular, its time-dependent extension enables microscopic studies of non-equilibrium phenomena in strongly paired systems, such as those expected in the inner crust of neutron stars, where nuclei coexist with a superfluid neutron background. In this talk, I will present recent developments in time-dependent EDF approaches for nuclear superfluids, with emphasis on large-scale simulations of real-time dynamics [1]. I will discuss the motion of a quantized vortex interacting with a nuclear impurity embedded in superfluid neutron matter, highlighting the microscopic origin of vortex–nucleus forces. I will also introduce a dynamical scheme for extracting effective mass parameters of neutron-rich nuclei immersed in a superfluid medium, providing insight into collective inertial properties beyond static approaches [2]. These results establish a consistent microscopic picture of dynamical processes in neutron star crusts and provide new insights into the rotational dynamics of neutron stars, including mechanisms relevant to pulsar glitches.
[1] D. Pȩcak, A. Zdanowicz, N. Chamel, P. Magierski, G. Wlazłowski, Time-dependent nuclear energy-density functional theory toolkit for neutron star crust: Dynamics of a nucleus in a neutron superfluid, Phys. Rev. X 14, 041054 (2024)
[2] A. Zdanowicz, D. Pęcak, P. Magierski, G. Wlazłowski, Dynamical scheme for computing the mass parameter of a system in a medium, Phys. Rev. C 112, 045804 (2025)