Spin and spin-isospin instabilities in asymmetric nuclear matter at zero and finite temperatures using Skyrme functionals

Self-consistent mean-field methods based on phenomenological Skyrme effective interactions are known to exhibit spurious spin and spin-isospin instabilities both at zero and finite temperatures when applied to homogeneous nuclear matter at the densities encountered in neutron stars and in supernova cores. The origin of these instabilities is revisited in the framework of the nuclear energy density functional theory, and a simple prescription is proposed to remove them. The stability of several Skyrme parametrizations is reexamined.