Nuclear symmetry energy and its role in the thermodynamic instabilities of nuclear matter using an ab initio statistical approach

Abstract

In this research, by using the Seyler-Blanchard (SB) interaction, we present the Thomas-Fermi statistical approach in the simplest possible form in order to study the thermodynamic properties of nuclear matter with special attention to symmetry energy and its role in the thermodynamic instabilities. Our results show that the symmetry energy and symmetry free energy for the SB interaction are stiffer than those for the Myers-Swiatecki (MS) interactions. It can be seen that the temperature plays a prominent role in eliminating the unstable regions of the phase diagrams so that the unstable region shrinks with increasing temperature until it disappears at the critical temperature. Furthermore, the thermodynamic instabilities of asymmetric nuclear matter (ANM) occur simultaneously in both the chemical and mechanical modes, while the mechanical instabilities play a dominant role, as can be observed more significantly in the SB interaction than in the MS interactions due to the stiffer behavior of the symmetry energy and the symmetry free energy. This work paves the way for in-depth research on the liquid-gas phase transition, considering that the other theoretical predictions are consistent with the results of this model.