Lambda-nuclear interactions and hyperon puzzle in neutron stars

Brueckner theory is used to investigate the in-medium properties of a Λ-hyperon in nuclear and neutron matter, based on hyperon-nucleon interactions derived within SU(3) chiral effective field theory (EFT). It is shown that the resulting Λ single-particle potential U_Λ(p_Λ= 0 , ρ) becomes strongly repulsive for densities ρ of two-to-three times that of normal nuclear matter. Adding a density-dependent effective ΛN-interaction constructed from chiral ΛNN three-body forces increases the repulsion further. Consequences of these findings for neutron stars are discussed. It is argued that for hyperon-nuclear interactions with properties such as those deduced from the SU(3) EFT potentials, the onset for hyperon formation in the core of neutron stars could be shifted to much higher density which, in turn, could pave the way for resolving the so-called hyperon puzzle.