5th International Symposium on Nuclear Symmetry Energy NuSYM15, June 29 - July 2, 2015 Kraków, POLAND

Betty Tsang
Michigan State University East Lansing, UNITED STATES

### Nuclear Symmetry Energy – from nucleus to neutron stars

Abstract
The symmetry energy term in the nuclear equation of state affects many aspects of nuclear physics and astrophysics, from the structure of exotic nuclei to properties of neutron stars. A decade ago, Brown showed that realistic parameterizations of the Skyrme interactions that fit the binding energy differences between $^{100}$Sn and $^{132}$Sn nuclei yield very different symmetry term in the nuclear equation of state and predict a wide range of the skin radii of $^{208}$Pb. Substantial progress has been achieved in recent years in constraining the density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy at and below the saturation density with a wide range of experiments. In the talk, I will review current experimental constraints on the symmetry energy from different experiments. I will discuss the implications of recent observations of massive neutron masses and radius on nuclear equation of state. I will give an up-to-date assessment in the ongoing quest to determine the symmetry energy dependence in regions above the saturation density including exploration of three neutron force and the effective nucleon masses.