Abstract
Neutron stars, especially low-mass neutron stars, are good candidates to probe the nuclear properties. Due to the saturation property of nucleonic matter, nuclear masses and radii can be approximately expressed as a function of atomic mass number. On the other hand, the expression of stellar mass of neutron stars is not straightforward even for the low-mass neutron stars. But, we successfully construct theoretical formulas for the masses of low-mass neutron stars by finding a new parameter which is the combination of the nuclear saturation parameters. This parameter can play a key role in connecting the mass–radius relation of the laboratory nuclei to that of the celestial objects. In this talk, we show how good this mass formula expresses the low-mass neutron stars and the application of it.