The sensitivity of the stellar moment of inertia to the neutron-star matter equation of state is examined using accurately calibrated relativistic mean-field models. We probe this sensitivity by tuning both the density dependence of the symmetry energy and the high-density component of the equation of state, properties that are at present poorly constrained by existing laboratory data. Particularly attractive is the study of the fraction of the moment of inertia contained in the solid crust. Analytic treatments of the crustal moment of inertia reveal a high sensitivity to the transition pressure at the core-crust interface. This may suggest the existence of a strong correlation between the density dependence of the symmetry energy and the crustal moment of inertia. However, no correlation was found. We conclude that constraining the density dependence of the symmetry energy—through, for example, the measurement of the neutron skin thickness in ${}^{208}\mathrm{Pb}$—will place no significant bound on either the transition pressure or the crustal moment of inertia.

• Received 18 June 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.82.025810