Electromagnetic Scattering in Degenerate and Partially Degenerate Nuclear Matter

Abstract

I calculate the rate of electromagnetic scattering in degenerate and partially degenerate plasmas composed of electrons, muons, protons, and neutrons. Correlations with strong interactions, induced by the polarizability of electromagnetically and strongly charged protons, are taken into account. At subnuclear densities induced interactions are shown to cause a drastic increase of the longitudinal scattering rate. The results obtained are particularly relevant for the electron contribution to transport in the outer core of neutron stars, and represent a first step towards a realistic calculation of transport phenomena in neutron star mergers.