Thermal effects on nuclear matter properties

A quantitative description of the properties of hot nuclear matter will be needed for the interpretation of the available and forthcoming astrophysical data, providing information on the postmerger phase of a neutron star coalescence. We have employed a recently developed theoretical model, based on a phenomenological nuclear Hamiltonian including two- and three-nucleon potentials, to study the temperature dependence of average and single-particle properties of nuclear matter relevant to astrophysical applications. The possibility to represent the results of microscopic calculations using simple and yet physically motivated parametrizations of thermal effects, suitable for use in numerical simulations of astrophysical processes, is also discussed.