  More than twenty years ago, it was predicted that nuclei can adopt
interesting shapes, such as rods or slabs, etc., in the cores of supernovae and
the crusts of neutron stars. These non-spherical nuclei are referred to as
nuclear "pasta".
  In recent years, we have been studying the dynamics of the pasta phases using
a method called quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) and have opened up a new
aspect of study for this system. Our findings include: dynamical formation of
the pasta phases by cooling down the hot uniform nuclear matter; phase diagrams
in the density versus temperature plane; structural transitions between the
pasta phases induced by compression and elucidation of the mechanism by which
they proceed. In the present article, we given an overview of the basic physics
and astrophysics of the pasta phases and review our works for readers in other
fields.
