Cosmic Kitchen: Nuclear Pasta in the Depths of Stars ⚡ экспресс
Using a Bayesian ensemble of neutron star equations of state based on relativistic mean-field models and constrained by nuclear experiments, saturation properties, chiral effective field theory, and multimessenger astrophysics, the influence of nuclear pasta on crust structure and torsional oscillations has been explored. For each model within the compressible liquid drop framework, pasta geometries were calculated: spheres, rods, slabs, tubes, bubbles; only a small fraction of models reproduce slabs, tubes, and bubbles. The appearance and extent of pasta are determined by the slope parameter of the symmetry energy L. The transition from spheres to rods is sharply localized at a density of 0.0588 (+0.0045/−0.0065) fm⁻³. Pasta occupies about 14% (+2.5/−3.6%) of the crust thickness and contains approximately 48% (+7.1/−11.3%) of its mass. For the first time, an analysis of quasiperiodic oscillations (QPOs) has been performed on the posterior ensemble, revealing a strong correlation of frequencies with the curvature of the symmetry energy K_sym at half saturation density. The spread in equations of state yields a range of angular indices ℓ that are consistent with observations of low-frequency QPOs.
Long before that, Fritz Zwicky predicted that a supernova explosion gives birth to a tiny neutron star. Years later, Jocelyn Bell Burnell caught its pulses, discovering pulsars. Now we know that inside these stars is a true culinary spectacle: atomic nuclei stretch into spaghetti, layer up like lasagna, and clump into gnocchi. They call it nuclear pasta.
A recent study, combining nuclear models and data on gravitational waves, showed that the transition from round nuclei to strands happens at the exact same density, as if nature follows a recipe. The pasta layer is only 14% of the crust's thickness but packs nearly half its mass. These layers make the star tremble at specific frequencies, and astronomers see this trembling as the flickering of pulsars. For the first time, scientists matched calculated frequencies with real observations and found that the rhythm of the tremors reveals properties of nuclear forces—a sort of stellar seismology.
But the most unexpected twist: this nuclear pasta might explain the mysterious 'glitches' in pulsar flickers, when their pulse suddenly skips a beat. Perhaps the pasta's trembling triggers abrupt shifts that astronomers have been catching for half a century.
🎯 "Nuclear pasta" isn't a figure of speech—it's a precise term. The layers really do resemble spaghetti, lasagna, and gnocchi. But they're so strong that a strand as thin as a human hair could support the weight of a metropolis.