In-medium ion mass renormalization and lattice vibrations in the neutron star crust

Abstract

The inner crust of a neutron star consists of nuclei immersed in a superfluid neutron liquid. As these nuclei move through the fermionic medium they bring it into motion as well. As a result their mass is strongly renormalized and the spectrum of the ion lattice vibrations is significantly affected. Consequently we predict that the specific heat and the lattice thermal energy of the Coulomb crystal at these densities are noticeably modified.