Pairing effects on neutrino transport in low-density stellar matter

Abstract

We investigate the impact of pairing correlations on neutrino transport in stellar matter. Our analysis is extended to nuclear matter conditions where large density fluctuations develop, associated with the onset of the liquid-vapor phase transition, and clustering phenomena occur. Within a thermodynamical treatment, we show that at moderate temperatures, where pairing effects are still active, the scattering of neutrinos in the nuclear medium is significantly affected by pairing correlations, which increase the neutrino trapping, thus modifying the cooling mechanism, by neutrino emission, of neutron stars.