“Can a neutron be cubic?” – I thought …

And then I wondered what “forms“?

And then – what is “to be“?

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The wave function that interpolates between the sphere (for N = 2) and the cube (as N → ∞) for N = 2, 4, 8, 12

Neutron stars can give neutrons a cubic shape

Wired, August 16, 2011

Gravity and high density inside exploding stars can cause neutrons to change shape from spherical to cubic.

This idea may mean that neutron stars (as researchers call stellar “corpses”) denser than anyone imagined. The question may also arise – what can prevent their transformation into black holes and their complete disappearance?

“If you take this result at face value, it means that theorists in the field of neutron stars are in trouble.” [Нейтронные звезды] should turn into black holes with smaller masses, “said a theoretical physicist Felipe Jose Lanes Estrada from Complutense University of Madrid, co-author of the study, published on August 9 on a site with arXiv preprints.

“But we are not observing this. There may be additional interaction [между нейтронами]which can withstand decay. An interaction that we have not even thought about, ”he said.

A star with a mass 9-20 times the mass of the Sun will explode like a supernova by the end of its life. At this weight, the star is not heavy enough to gain critical over-density and shrink into a black hole. Instead, its core breaks up into a sphere no more than 15 miles wide. This sphere is so dense that one teaspoon of the substance of which it consists weighs as much as the entire mass of the Earth, multiplied by 18.

At the end of last year, astronomers discovered the largest neutron star in the world called J1614-22307. The mass of this star was equal to the mass of the Sun times 1.97. The most massive neutron star before this discovery had a mass equal to 1.67 solar masses.

This discovery made a number of astrophysicists seriously think. The existence of such a star ruled out some models of neutron stars that relied on exotic forms of matter, and now these models cannot explain the delay in the decay of such a heavy object. On the contrary, this discovery confirmed the correctness of models of neutron stars containing only neutrons and protons.

When Lanes-Estrada and his university colleague Gaspar Moreno Navarro heard about J1614-2230, they wanted to learn more about the processes inside this star.

These two knew about the 1970s model, which suggested that pure neutrons could form a crystal lattice under incredible pressure (just like carbon forms diamonds in the bowels of the earth). When they built a computer model for this idea, they found that under pressure arising in the depths of neutron stars, neutrons are deformed from spheres into cubes.

“The optimal density at which spheres are formed (including neutrons) is approximately 74%. Regardless of the location, there is always space between them – like with oranges in a supermarket window, ”said Lanes-Estrada. “If you want to decompose oranges as rationally as possible, some of them will be washed. Lay them out in a glass case one and a half meters high, and the lower ones will be crushed. ”

Gravity transforms particles of matter into the simplest, most rationally packed object. As a rule, such an object is a sphere similar to the Earth. The particles themselves, however, are not affected individually; gravity is too weak to overcome the strong bonds that hold neutrons and other particles together. But if the force of gravity is large enough, it can overcome these connections.

Thus, in the depths of the newly discovered neutron star, the core pressure of which can be twice as high as that of the rest, the cube can be the most effective form of the neutron. “They will be smoothed on all sides, like bones, with pressure indicators starting at 2.5 miles below the ground,” Lanes-Estrada said.

So far, the study has been met with positive reviews.

An expert in particle physics, Richard Hill, of the University of Chicago, for example, noted that in the study, the neutron is considered as an object individually, and not as a whole.

“This is an interesting idea, but it is not yet clear what is happening in the aggregate of neutrons,” said Hill, who did not participate in the study. Based on the density in neutron stars, he noted that “the identity of individual neutrons can be blurred.”

Lanes-Estrada acknowledged the criticism formulated by a second physicist who wished to remain anonymous. Lanes-Estrada replied that he also had the goal of pushing the boundaries of research.

“I think there is a lot of uncertainty about what happens to neutrons at very high pressures,” he said. “We must continue to explore all possibilities.”

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