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Cubic neutrons

The neutron is largely spherical and incompressible in atomic nuclei. These two properties are however challenged in the extreme pressure environment of a neutron star. Our variational computation within the Cornell model of Coulomb gauge QCD shows that the neutron (and also the Delta-3/2 baryon) can adopt cubic symmetry at an energy cost of about 150 MeV. Balancing this with the free energy gained by tighter neutron packing, we expose the possible softening of the equation of state of neutron matter.