Symmetry energy in neutron star matter

Highlights: • We clarified the matter on the relevance of quantal delocalization. • We made clear that the parameters of the screening Coulomb potential ensure the stability of the pasta properties. • We improved the Esym computation (see Section 2.2.2 and Appendix A) according to the reviewers suggestions. - Abstract: We investigate the structure attained by neutron star matter with proton to neutron ratios ranging from $x=0.1$ to 0.5, densities in the range of 0.02 fm⁻³ ρ −3, and temperatures $T<4$ MeV. In particular we study the pasta shapes and the phase changes previously observed in nuclear matter, as well as the behavior of the symmetry energy. We corroborate the existence of homogeneous to non-homogeneous phase transitions, and the different values of the symmetry energy at different densities and temperatures.