Abstract: Neutron stars are highly condensed stellar objects produced in supernova explosions, the end point in the evolution of more massive stars. The masses of neutron stars are in the range of 1-2 times of the sun, whereas their typical radii are only 10-20km. The matter they contain, primarily neutrons, is therefore the densest found outside black holes in the universe. Neutron stars thus provide a laboratory to test our understanding of nature at the extreme, and verify our theories of matter, energy and their interactions. However, neutron stars are still among the most mysterious objects in the universe and they pose a great scientific challenge. The structure and properties of neutron stars are determined by the Equation of State (which is a relationship among the pressure, density and temperature) of neutron-rich nuclear matter. For the EOS of neutron-rich nuclear matter, what has been most uncertain is the symmetry energy term related to the energy cost of converting protons into neutrons in nuclear medium at various densities.  Nuclear reactions conducted in terrestrial laboratories, especially heavy-ion reactions induced by highly neutron-rich radioactive beams, can produce nuclear matter similar to those contained in neutron stars. In this talk, I will first review the latest theoretical and experimental progress in constraining the EOS of neutron-rich nuclear matter, especially the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy, using nuclear reactions in terrestrial laboratories. I will then discuss several key astrophysical ramifications  of the EOS partially constrained by the latest experimental data from several nuclear physics laboratories around the world.
 
报告人简介：李宝安，教授。1983年毕业于兰州大学，1991年在MSU大学获得博士学位。现任Texas A&M University-Commerce 物理和天文系主任，西安交通大学长江讲座教授，中科院应用物理研究所、近代物理研究所和上海交通大学客座教授。美国自然科学基金、美国能源部、美国民用研究和发展基金、中国科学技术委员会和中国科学院等机构评委。PRL, PRC, Nucl. Phys. A, JPG, EPL和NIM等众多杂志评委。迄今为止其研究工作被引用4000余次，在各类国际学术会议上受邀报告100余次。

联系人： 庄鹏飞，肖志刚