http://arxiv.org/abs/1903.09121
We combine results from astrophysical observations and theoretical ab-initio calculations to investigate the presence of quark matter (QM) inside neutron stars (NSs). We find a clear qualitative change in the material properties of NS matter at energy densities comparable to those where quark-gluon plasma is created in heavy-ion collisions. In the low-density phase, the system has characteristics closely resembling those of hadronic matter, while the high-density phase can be clearly identified with nearly conformal QM. We show that QM is never present inside 1.44-M_sol NSs, but resides inside maximally massive NSs barring very specific and extreme conditions. Finally, for the heaviest observed NSs of approximately two solar masses, the fate of QM is found to strongly depend on the behavior of the speed of sound in the matter: if this quantity does not strongly violate the conformal limit c_s^2 < 1/3, these stars host sizable quark cores of at least five kilometers in radius.
E. Annala, T. Gorda, A. Kurkela, et. al.
Fri, 22 Mar 19
50/70
Comments: 11 pages with 3 appendices, 13 figures, 3 EoS tables as ancillary files