Self-consistent proton crystallization in dense neutron-star matter

We construct a solid-like variational wave function for protons localized in dense neutron-star matter. The localized protons are centered on the lattice sites, and the neutron background is described by periodic 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 by a sphere. With the Skyrme forces we find that the proton solid is of lower energy than a uniform matter for densities above nl∼3n0, where n0=0.17 fm-3 is the nuclear saturation density. We discuss implications of the proton crystallization for properties of dense matter in neutron stars. ((orig.))