SELF-CONSISTENT PROTON CRYSTALLIZATION IN DENSE NEUTRON-STAR MATTER

We construct a solid-like variational wave function for protons locali zed in dense neutron-star matter. The localized protons are centered o n the lattice sites, and the neutron background is described by period ic Bloch wave functions. The self-consistent periodic structure arises due to a collective mean field. For low proton fraction the periodic potential is weak and the neutron Fermi surface is well approximated b y a sphere. With the Skyrme forces we find that the proton solid is of lower energy than a uniform matter for densities above n1 almost-equa l-to 3n0, where n0 = 0.17 fm-3 is the nuclear saturation density. We d iscuss implications of the proton crystallization for properties of de nse matter in neutron stars.