Liquid Drop Model applies to Neutron Stars ?

[Widdekind]

The Weizsaecker Formula, for the total nuclear binding-energy $E_B$, of a nucleus, of mass number $A$, and proton number $Z$, is (roughly):

 

Now, viewing a NS, as a "single super-sized nucleus", amounts to taking the limit, as $A \rightarrow \infty$, with $Z \approx 0$. Accordingly, the binding-energy-per-nucleon,

 

$\frac{E_B}{A} \rightarrow 16 \, MeV \; - \; 24 MeV \approx -8 \, MeV$

where only the "volume" & "Pauli" terms have survived. That's a repulsion, of roughly 1% of the rest-mass-energy of the matter making up the NS. By way of comparison, the gravitational binding-energy, for NS of $\approx 1.5 M_{\odot}$, and $\approx 7 \, km$, is roughly 20%.

 

It certainly seems like, in NS, both GR & QM play important roles, requiring some kind of "quantum gravity" theory to accurately model (??).