oward: As has been mentioned in this thread, at the pressures in a neutron star a neutron is stable relative to a proton + electron. Electrostatic force pulls e + p => n together long before they can separate gravitationally. --R
--also, this is refuted thus: the binding energy of electron & proton is 13.6 electron volts, which is tiny versus the thermal energies of order 10^9 celsius, far far more than enough to separate an e and p by infinite distance. --so I conclude there DEFINITELY will be large e & p "separation" both possible, and expected to, happen. So the "electrostatic force" Howard here is worried about, is basically neglectible on the microscale; the only effects worth discussing are macroscopic collaborative effects, which indeed is what I was speaking about, yielding a macroscale electric field.