Neutron stars within relativistic central variational method

The properties of neutron stars are investigated within the relativistic central variational method by using a realistic nucleon-nucleon ($NN$) interaction. The strong repulsion of realistic $NN$ interactions at short distances is treated by a Jastrow central correlation function, whose form is completely determined through minimization of the total energy of the nuclear many-body system. The relativistic Hartree-Fock wave functions are chosen as the trial wave function. In this framework, the equation of state of the neutron star matter in $\beta$ equilibrium is obtained self-consistently. We further determine the properties of neutron stars via the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equation using Bonn A, B, and C potentials. The maximum masses of neutron stars with these realistic potentials are around $2.18 M_\odot$ and their corresponding radii are around $11$ km. These results are in accordance with the calculations of the relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory with the same potentials. Furthermore, we also find that the splitting of proton-neutron effective masses will be reversed at high density in the neutron star matter, which are caused by the contribution of short-range correlation on kinetic energy.