Nuclear symmetry energy in terms of single-nucleon potential and its effect on the proton fraction of β-stable npeμ matter.

Momentum and density dependence of single-nucleon potential u ( k, ρ, β) is analyzed using a density dependent finite range effective interaction of the Yukawa form. Depending on the choice of the strength parameters of exchange interaction, two different trends of the momentum dependence of nuclear symmetry potential are noticed which lead to two opposite types of neutron and proton effective mass splitting. The 2nd-order and 4th-order symmetry energy of isospin asymmetric nuclear matter are expressed analytically in terms of the single-nucleon potential. Two distinct behavior of the density dependence of 2nd-order and 4th-order symmetry energy are observed depending on neutron and proton effective mass splitting. It is also found that the 4th-order symmetry energy has a significant contribution towards the proton fraction of β-stable npeμ matter at high densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]