부산대학교 도서관

Equilibrium configurations of cold neutron stars near the minimum mass are studied, using the recent equation of state SLy, which describes in a unified, physically consistent manner, both the solid crust and the liquid core of neutron stars. Results are compared with those obtained using an older FPS equation of state of cold catalyzed matter. The value of M_min\simeq 0.09M_sun depends very weakly on the equation of state of cold catalyzed matter: it is 0.094 M_sun for the SLy model, and 0.088 M_sun for the FPS one. Central density at M_min is significantly lower than the normal nuclear density: for the SLy equation of state we get central density 1.7 10^{14} g/cm^3, to be compared with 2.3 10^{14} g/cm^3 obtained for the FPS one. Even at M_min, neutron stars have a small liquid core of radius of about 4 km, containing some 2-3% of the stellar mass. Neutron stars with 0.09 M_sun Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, uses aa.cls, accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysics