Topological analysis of nuclear pasta phases

Abstract

In this paper the analysis of the result of numerical simulations of pasta phases using algebraic topology methods is presented. These considerations suggest that some phases can be further split into (sub)phases and therefore should be more refined in numerical simulations. The results presented in the paper can also be used to relate the Euler characteristic from numerical simulations to the geometry of the phases. The Betti numbers are used as they provide finer characterization of the phases. It is also shown that different boundary conditions give different outcomes.