Equation of state under nuclear statistical equilibrium conditions

We investigate a three-parameter equation of state for stellar matter under nuclear statistical equilibrium conditions in the ranges of temperatures 3 x 10(9)-10(11) K and densities 10(4)-10(13) g cm(-3) and for various ratios of the total number of neutrons to the total number of protons within the range 1-1.5. These conditions correspond to the initial stages of the gravitational collapse of iron stellar cores that are accompanied by nonequilibrium matter neutronization. We analyze the effect of the excited levels of atomic nuclei on the thermodynamic properties of the matter. We show that this effect is insignificant at low densities, rho less than or similar to 10(10) g cm(-3), but it leads, to an expansion of the instability region, gamma < 4/3, at higher densities. The incorporated effects of the Fermi degeneracy of free nucleons prove to be insignificant, because their concentrations are low at low temperatures. In the future, we plan to investigate the effects of Coulomb interactions and neutron-rich nuclei on the thermodynamic properties of the matter. (C) 2004 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".