Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Shear Moduli for Coulomb Crystals

Abstract

Torsional (shear) oscillations of neutron stars may have been observed in quasiperiodic oscillations of Magnetar Giant Flares. The frequencies of these modes depend on the shear modulus of neutron star crust. We calculate the shear modulus of Coulomb crystals from molecular dynamics simulations. We find that electron screening reduces the shear modulus by about 10% compared to previous Ogata et al. results. Our MD simulations can be extended to calculate the effects of impurities and or polycrystalline structures on the shear modulus.