Neutron star properties with unified equations of state of dense matter

Aims. In this paper, we study the global properties of neutron stars (NSs), as predicted by the Brussels-Montreal equations of state (EoSs). These EoSs, which provide a unified description of all regions of a NS, are based on the generalised Skyrme functionals BSk19, BSk20, and BSk21 that were simultaneously fitted to almost all the nuclear mass data and constrained to reproduce various properties of infinite nuclear matter, as obtained from microscopic calculations. Methods. We solved Einstein's equations of general relativity for both non-rotating and rigidly rotating NSs using these unified EoSs. Results. The NS properties thus obtained are compared with various astrophysical observations. We find that only the stiffest EoS, based on the functional BSk21, is compatible with all the constraints inferred from these observations.