Bounds on the existence of neutron rich nuclei in neutron star interiors.

The authors address the question concerning the maximum density, ρ_max^N at which nuclei (and more generally-nuclear structures) can exist in neutron star interiors. An absolute upper bound to ρ_max^N is obtained using the bulk approximation, in which surface and Coulomb effects are neglected. A very good approximation to ρ_max^N is given by the threshold for the instability of a uniform npe plasma with respect to density modulations.