Medium polarization in asymmetric nuclear matter

The influence of the medium polarization on the effective nuclear interaction of asymmetric nuclear matter is calculated in the framework of the induced interaction theory. The strong isospin dependence of the density and spin-density fluctuations is studied as it is driven by the interplay between the neutron and proton medium polarizations. Going from symmetric nuclear matter to pure neutron matter, the crossover of the induced interaction from attractive to repulsive in the spin-singlet state is determined as a function of the isospin imbalance. The density range in which the crossover occurs is also determined. For the spin-triplet state the induced interaction turns out to be always repulsive. The implications of the results for neutron star superfluid phases are briefly discussed.