We propose the existence of a lower bound on the energy of pure neutron matter (PNM) on the basis of unitary-gas considerations. We discuss its justification from experimental studies of cold atoms as well as from theoretical studies of neutron matter. We demonstrate that this bound results in limits to the density-dependent symmetry energy, which is the difference between the energies of symmetric nuclear matter and PNM. In particular, this bound leads to a lower limit to the volume symmetry energy parameter S ₀. In addition, for assumed values of S ₀ above this minimum, this bound implies both upper and lower limits to the symmetry energy slope parameter L ,which describes the lowest-order density dependence of the symmetry energy. A lower bound on neutron-matter incompressibility is also obtained. These bounds are found to be consistent with both recent calculations of the energies of PNM and constraints from nuclear experiments. Our results are significant because several equations of state that are currently used in astrophysical simulations of supernovae and neutron star mergers, as well as in nuclear physics simulations of heavy-ion collisions, have symmetry energy parameters that violate these bounds. Furthermore, below the nuclear saturation density, the bound on neutron-matter energies leads to a lower limit to the density-dependent symmetry energy, which leads to upper limits to the nuclear surface symmetry parameter and the neutron-star crust–core boundary. We also obtain a lower limit to the neutron-skin thicknesses of neutron-rich nuclei. Above the nuclear saturation density, the bound on neutron-matter energies also leads to an upper limit to the symmetry energy, with implications for neutron-star cooling via the direct Urca process.

A new scheme for testing nuclear matter equations of state (EoSs) at high densities using constraints from neutron star (NS) phenomenology and a flow data analysis of heavy-ion collisions is suggested. An acceptable EoS shall not allow the direct Urca process to occur in NSs with masses below $1.5M_{\odot }$, and also shall not contradict flow and kaon production data of heavy-ion collisions. Compact star constraints include the mass measurements of $2.1\pm 0.2M_{\odot }$ ($1\sigma$ level) for PSR J0751+1807 and of $2.0\pm 0.1M_{\odot }$ from the innermost stable circular orbit for 4U 1636–536, the baryon mass—gravitational mass relationships from Pulsar B in J0737–3039 and the mass-radius relationships from quasiperiodic brightness oscillations in 4U 0614+09 and from the thermal emission of RX J1856–3754. This scheme is applied to a set of relativistic EoSs which are constrained otherwise from nuclear matter saturation properties. We demonstrate on the given examples that the test scheme due to the quality of the newly emerging astrophysical data leads to useful selection criteria for the high-density behavior of nuclear EoSs.

The equation of state of cold baryonic matter is studied within a relativistic mean-field model with hadron masses and coupling constants depending on the scalar field. All hadron masses undergo a universal scaling, whereas the couplings are scaled differently. The appearance of hyperons in dense neutron star interiors is accounted for, however the equation of state remains sufficiently stiff if the reduction of the ϕ meson mass is included. Our equation of state matches well the constraints known from analyses of the astrophysical data and particle production in heavy-ion collisions