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We investigate the radial stability of neutron stars under conditions where their composition may or may not remain in chemical equilibrium during oscillations. Using different equations of state that include nucleons, hyperons, and/or $\Delta$ resonances, we compute stellar configurations and examine their fundamental mode frequencies in two limiting scenarios. In one limit, nuclear reactions are fast enough to maintain chemical equilibrium throughout the pulsation, resulting in a lower effective adiabatic index, $\Gamma_{\mathrm{EQ}}$, and softer stellar responses. In the opposite limit, nuclear reactions are too slow to adjust particle abundances during oscillations, yielding a higher index, $\Gamma_{\mathrm{FR}}$, and stiffer stellar responses. We find that the equilibrium scenario triggers dynamic instability at the maximum mass configuration, whereas the frozen composition scenario allows stable solutions to persist beyond this mass, extending the stable branch. This effect is modest for simpler equations of state, but becomes increasingly pronounced for more complex compositions, where the emergence of new particle species at high densities leads to a significant disparity between $\Gamma_{\mathrm{EQ}}$ and $\Gamma_{\mathrm{FR}}$. Realistic conditions, in which different nuclear reactions have distinct timescales, will place the effective $\Gamma$ between these two extreme values. Short-timescale reactions push the star toward the equilibrium limit, potentially restricting the length of the stable branch. Conversely, slow reactions preserve a frozen composition, allowing the stable branch to grow. Thus, the actual extent of the stable configuration range depends critically on the interplay between nuclear-reaction timescales and the star's fundamental oscillation period., Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures

We explore an alternative explanation for the low-mass ultra-compact star in the supernova remnant HESS~J1731-347 using a model-agnostic approach to construct hybrid equations of state. The hadronic part of the hybrid equation of state is constructed using a generalized piecewise polytropic scheme, while the quark phase is described by the generic constant speed of sound model. We assume an abrupt first-order hadron-quark phase transition with a slow conversion speed between phases. Our equations of state align with modern Chiral Effective Field Theory calculations near nuclear saturation density and are consistent with perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics calculations at high densities. Using this theoretical framework, we derive a wide range of hybrid equations of state capable of explaining the light compact object in HESS~J1731-347 in a model-independent manner, without fine-tuning. These equations of state are also consistent with modern astronomical constraints from high-mass pulsar timing, NICER observations, and multimessenger astronomy involving gravitational waves. Our results support the hypothesis that the compact object in HESS~J1731-347 could plausibly be a slow stable hybrid star., Comment: Published as a regular article in PRD

We investigate the properties of the hadron-quark mixed phase, often termed the \textit{pasta} phase, expected to exist in the cores of massive neutron stars. To construct the equations of state (EoS), we combine an analytical representation based on the APR EoS for hadronic matter with the MIT bag model featuring vector interactions for quark matter. For modeling the mixed phase, we utilize the compressible liquid drop model that consistently accounts for finite-size and Coulomb effects. Unlike most previous analyses that treated surface tension as a constant free parameter and neglected curvature tension, we employ microphysical calculations using the multiple reflection expansion formalism to determine these parameters, while also ensuring their self-consistency with the EoS. We construct an extensive set of mixed hybrid EoSs by varying model parameters, solve the stellar structure equations to obtain neutron star mass-radius relationships, and select the models that satisfy current astrophysical constraints. Our findings closely align with calculations using a constant surface tension in terms of EoS stiffness and resulting stellar structure. However, they reveal significant differences in the types of geometric structures and their prevalence ranges within the mixed phase. Specifically, curvature effects enhance the emergence of tubes and bubbles at high densities despite the large value of surface tension, while suppressing the existence of drops and rods at low densities., Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures

We investigate possible traces of the nuclear symmetry energy slope ($L$) in the gravitational wave emission of neutron stars. For fixed stellar mass values, we examine how the slope influences the stellar radius, compactness, the tidal deformability, the frequency of the quadrupole fundamental fluid mode, and the damping time of the mode due to the gravitational wave emission. We demonstrate that all these physical quantities are sensitive to the slope and could potentially impose significant constraints on it., Comment: Published Version

We revisit asteroseismology with quadrupolar wI modes and present universal relationships for its fundamental and first overtone. In contrast to relationships proposed in the literature, our universal relationships are capable of including slow stable hybrid stars that appear when considering slow sharp hadron-quark phase transitions. We show that, if the frequency and damping time of the fundamental mode of a given pulsating object are measured, its mass, radius, and dimensionless tidal deformability can be inferred. Moreover, we show that the errors of such estimates are smaller than a few percent for the mass and radius. For the dimensionless tidal deformability, the errors are -- for compact objects with $M\gtrsim 1.4\,M_\odot$ -- in general smaller than ~100%. Comparison with previous universal relationships shows that the ones proposed in this work produce better estimates of the mass and radius of totally stable compact objects., Comment: Accepted to be published in the MNRAS

Multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational waves is a blooming area whose limits are not clear. After the first detection of binary black hole merger and the famous event GW170817 and its electromagnetic counterpart, the compact-object astrophysical community is starting to grasp the physical implications of such event and trying to improve numerical models to compare with future observations. Moreover, recent detections made by the NICER collaboration increased the tension between several theoretical models used to describe matter in the inner core of compact objects. In this paper, we focus on quadrupolar purely spacetime wI-modes of oscillating compact objects described using a wide range of hybrid equations of state able to include several theoretical possibilities of exotic matter in the inner core of such stars. We study the case in which a sharp first order hadron-quark phase transition occurs and explore the scenarios of rapid and slow phase conversions at the interface. We put special attention on the validity of universal relationships for the oscillation frequency and damping time that might help unravel the mysteries hidden at the inner cores of compact objects. We show that, within the slow conversion regime where extended branches of hybrid stars appear, universal relationships for wI-modes proposed in the literature do not hold., Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in PRD

We study hybrid stars considering the effects on stellar stability of the hadron-quark conversion speed at the sharp interface. The equation of state is constructed by combining a model-agnostic hadronic description with a constant speed of sound model for quark matter. We show that current LIGO/Virgo, NICER, low-density nuclear and high-density perturbative QCD constraints can be satisfied in two scenarios, with low and high transition pressures. If the conversion speed at the interface is slow, a new class of dynamically stable hybrid objects is possible and very stiff hadronic equations of state cannot be discarded. Densities tens of times larger than the nuclear saturation density are possible at the center of these objects. We discuss possible formation mechanisms for the new class of hybrid stars and smoking guns for their observational identification., Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in JCAP

The internal composition of neutron stars is currently largely unknown. Due to the possibility of phase transitions in quantum chromodynamics, stars could be hybrid and have quark cores. We investigate some imprints of elastic quark phases (only when perturbed) on the dynamical stability of hybrid stars. We show that they increase the dynamical stability window of hybrid stars in the sense that the onset of instabilities happen at larger central densities than the ones for maximum masses. In particular, when the shear modulus of a crystalline quark phase is taken at face value, the relative radius differences between elastic and perfect-fluid hybrid stars with null radial frequencies (onset of instability) would be up to $1-2\%$. Roughly, this would imply a maximum relative radius dispersion (on top of the perfect-fluid predictions) of $2-4\%$ for stars in a given mass range exclusively due to the elasticity of the quark phase. In the more agnostic approach where the estimates for the quark shear modulus only suggest its possible order of magnitude (due to the many approximations taken in its calculation), the relative radius dispersion uniquely due to a quark phase elasticity might be as large as $5-10\%$. Finally, we discuss possible implications of the above dispersion of radii for the constraint of the elasticity of a quark phase with electromagnetic missions such as NICER, eXTP and ATHENA., Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures. New discussions (EOS uncertainties) inserted. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We study quark-hadron hybrid stars with sharp phase transitions assuming that phase conversions at the interface are slow. Hadronic matter is described by a set of equations of state (EoS) based on the chiral effective field theory and quark matter by a generic bag model. Due to slow conversions at the interface, there is an extended region of stable hybrid stars with central densities above the density of the maximum mass star. We explore systematically the role of the transition pressure and the energy-density jump $\Delta \epsilon$ at the interface on some global properties of hybrid stars. We find that for a given transition pressure, the radius of the last stable hybrid star decreases as $\Delta \epsilon$ raises resulting in a larger extended branch of stable hybrid stars. Contrary to purely hadronic stars, the tidal deformability $\Lambda$ can be either a decreasing or an increasing function of the stellar mass $M$ and for large values of the transition pressure has a very weak dependence on $M$. Finally, we analyze the tidal deformabilities $\Lambda_1$ and $\Lambda_2$ for a binary system with the same chirp mass as GW170817. In the scenario where at least one of the stars in the binary is hybrid, we find that models with low enough transition pressure are inside the $90 \%$ credible region of GW170817. However, these models have maximum masses below $2 \, M_{\odot}$, in disagreement with observations. We also find that the LIGO/Virgo constrain (at $90\%$ level) and the $2 \, M_{\odot}$ requirement can be simultaneously fulfilled in a scenario where all hybrid configurations have masses larger than $1.6 \, M_{\odot}$ and the hadronic EoS is not too stiff, such as several of our hybrid models involving a hadronic EoS of intermediate stiffness. In such scenario hybrid stars may exist in Nature but both objects in GW170817 were hadronic stars., Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures

We study the influence of strong magnetic fields in hybrid stars, composed by hadrons and a pure quark matter core, and analyse their structure and stability as well as some possible evolution channels due to the magnetic field decay. Using an ad-hoc parametrisation of the magnetic field strength and taking into account Landau-quantization effects in matter, we calculate hybrid magnetised equations of state and some associated quantities, such as particle abundances and matter magnetisation, for different sets of parameters and different magnetic field strengths. Moreover, we compute the magnetised stable stellar configurations, the mass versus radius and the gravitational mass versus central energy density relationships, the gravitational mass versus baryon mass diagram, and the tidal deformability. Our results are in agreement with both, the $\sim 2M_\odot$ pulsars and the data obtained from GW170817. In addition, we study the stability of stellar configurations assuming that slow and rapid phase transitions occur at the sharp hadron-quark interface. We find that, unlike in the rapid transition scenario, where $\partial M/\partial \epsilon_c < 0$ is a sufficient condition for instability, in the slow transition scenario there exists a connected extended stable branch beyond the maximum mass star, for which $\partial M/\partial \epsilon_c < 0$. Finally, analysing the gravitational mass versus baryon mass relationship, we have calculated the energy released in transitions between stable stellar configurations. We find that the inclusion of the magnetic field and the existence of new stable branches allows the possibility of new channels of transitions that fulfil the energy requirements to explain Gamma Ray Bursts., Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures

The recent direct observation of gravitational wave event $GW170817$ and its $GRB170817A$ signal has opened up a new window to study neutron stars and heralds a new era of Astronomy referred to as the Multimessenger Astronomy. Both gravitational and electromagnetic waves from a single astrophysical source have been detected for the first time. This combined detection offers an unprecedented opportunity to place constraints on the neutron star matter equation of state. The existence of a possible hadron-quark phase transition in the central regions of neutron stars is associated with the appearance of g-modes, which are extremely important as they could signal the presence of a pure quark matter core in the centers of neutron stars. Observations of g-modes with frequencies between 1 kHz and 1.5 kHz could be interpreted as evidence of a sharp hadron-quark phase transition in the cores of neutron stars. In this article, we shall review the description of the dense matter composing neutron stars, the determination of the equation of state of such matter, and the constraints imposed by astrophysical observations of these fascinating compact objects., Comment: 35 pages, 10 figures

We perform a detailed analysis of the fundamental $f$-mode frequencies and damping times of nonrotating boson stars in general relativity by solving the nonradial perturbation equations. Two parameters which govern the microscopic properties of the bosonic condensates, namely the self-coupling strength and the mass of scalar particle, are explored. These two quantities characterize oscillations of boson star. Specifically, we reexamine some empirical relations that describe the $f$-mode parameters in terms of mass and radius of the boson stars. We found it is possible to constrain the equation of state if the fundamental oscillation mode is observed., Comment: 9 pages, 18 figures, 1 table and two appendixes (references added)

We study how the nature of a hybrid system (perfect fluid, solid or a mixture of them) could be related to the induction of general relativistic surface degrees of freedom on phase-splitting surfaces upon perturbation of its phases. We work in the scope of phase conversions in the vicinity of sharp phase transition surfaces whose timescales are either much smaller (rapid conversions) or larger (slow conversions) than the ones of the perturbations ($\omega^{-1}$, where $\omega$ is a characteristic frequency of oscillation of the star). In this first approach, perturbations are assumed to be purely radial. We show that surface degrees of freedom could emerge when either the core or the crust of a hybrid star is solid and phase conversions close to a phase-splitting surface are rapid. We also show how this would change the usual stability rule for solid hybrid stars, namely $\partial M_0/\partial \rho_c\geq 0$, where $M_0$ is the total mass to the background hybrid star and $\rho_c$ its central density. Further consequences of our analysis for asteroseismology are also briefly discussed., Comment: 8 pages. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We study radial oscillations of hybrid non-rotating neutron stars composed by a quark matter core and hadronic external layers. At first, we physically deduce the junction conditions that should be imposed between two any phases in these systems when perturbations take place. Then we compute the oscillation spectrum focusing on the effects of slow and rapid phase transitions at the quark-hadron interface. We use a generic MIT bag model for quark matter and a relativistic mean field theory for hadronic matter. In the case of rapid transitions at the interface we find a general relativistic version of the reaction mode which has similar properties as its classical counterpart. We also show that the usual static stability condition $\partial M/\partial \rho_c\geq 0$, where $\rho_c$ is the central density of a star whose total mass is $M$, remains always true for rapid transitions but breaks down in general for slow transitions. In fact, for slow transitions we find that the frequency of the fundamental mode can be a real number (indicating stability) even for some branches of stellar models that verify $\partial M/\partial \rho_c \leq 0$. Thus, when secular instabilities are suppressed, as expected below some critical stellar rotation rate, it would be possible the existence of twin or even triplet stars with the same gravitational mass but different radii, with one of the counterparts having $\partial M/\partial \rho_c \leq 0$. We explore some astrophysical consequences of these results., Comment: 14 pages, 15 figures. Minor changes. Version accepted for publication in ApJ

We study the properties of compact stars in the Randall-Sundrum II type braneworld model. To this end, we solve the braneworld generalization of the stellar structure equations for a static fluid distribution with spherical symmetry considering that the spacetime outside the star is described by a Schwarzschild metric. First, the stellar structure equations are integrated employing the so called causal limit equation of state (EOS), which is constructed using a well established EOS at densities below a fiducial density, and the causal EOS $P= \rho$ above it. It is a standard procedure in general relativistic stellar structure calculations to use such EOS for obtaining a limit in the mass radius diagram, known as causal limit, above which no stellar configurations are possible if the EOS fulfills that the sound velocity is smaller than the speed of light. We find that the equilibrium solutions in the braneworld model can violate the general relativistic causal limit and, for sufficiently large mass they approach asymptotically to the Schwarzschild limit $M = 2 R$. Then, we investigate the properties of hadronic and strange quark stars using two typical EOSs. For masses below $\sim 1.5 - 2 M_{\odot}$, the mass versus radius curves show the typical behavior found within the frame of General Relativity. However, we also find a new branch of stellar configurations that can violate the general relativistic causal limit and that in principle may have an arbitrarily large mass. The stars belonging to this new branch are supported against collapse by the nonlocal effects of the bulk on the brane. We also show that these stars are always stable under small radial perturbations. These results support the idea that traces of extra-dimensions might be found in astrophysics, specifically through the analysis of masses and radii of compact objects., Comment: to appear in Physical Review D

We review some recent results about the mechanism of deconfinement of hadronic matter into quark matter in cold neutron stars and protoneutron stars. We discuss the role of finite size effects and the relevance of temperature and density fluctuations on the nucleation process. We also examine the importance of surface effects for mixed phases in hybrid stars. A small drop of quark matter nucleated at the core of a compact star may grow if the conversion is sufficiently exothermic. In such a case, it may trigger the burning of the stellar core and even the whole star if quark matter is absolutely stable. We explore the physical processes that occur inside the flame and analyze the hydrodynamic evolution of the combustion front. In the last part of this review, we focus on hybrid stars using the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model with scalar, vector and 't Hooft interactions, paying particular attention to a generalized non-standard procedure for the choice of the 'bag constant'. We also describe the non-radial oscillation modes of hadronic, hybrid and strange stars with maximum masses above $2 M_{\odot}$ and show that the frequency of the $p_1$ and $g$ fluid modes contains key information about the internal composition of compact objects., Comment: Invited contribution to the EPJA Topical Issue "Exotic Matter in Neutron Stars", 11 pages, 6 figures

We perform an extensive analysis of neutrino diffusion in quark matter within the MIT bag model at arbitrary temperature and degeneracy. We examine in detail the contribution of each of the relevant weak interaction processes to the total neutrino opacity and evaluate the effect of the strange quark mass, the bag constant, and the QCD perturbative corrections to the MIT bag model. We also investigate the anisotropic contribution to the neutrino distribution function in scatterings, the mean energy transfer and the mean scattering angle. The density and temperature dependence of the diffusion coefficients $D_n$ that govern the cooling and deleptonization of a compact star is shown in detail. Finally, our numerical results for the neutrino mean free paths are compared against known analytic approximations. We conclude that neutrino scattering constitutes a significant portion of the total neutrino opacity in leptonized quark matter and neutrino-quark scattering is, in general, very similar to neutrino-electron scattering with respect to both mean energy transfer per scattering and mean scattering angle., Comment: 18 pages, 21 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review C

We analyze the effect of color superconductivity in the transition from hot hadron matter to quark matter in the presence of a gas of trapped electron neutrinos. To describe strongly interacting matter we adopt a two-phase picture in which the hadronic phase is described by means of a non-linear Walecka model and just deconfined matter through the MIT bag model including color superconductivity. We impose flavor conservation during the transition in such a way that just deconfined quark matter is transitorily out of equilibrium with respect to weak interactions. Our results show that color superconductivity facilitates the transition for temperatures below $T_c$. This effect may be strong if the superconducting gap is large enough. As in previous work we find that trapped neutrinos increase the critical density for deconfinement; however, if the just deconfined phase is color superconducting this effect is weaker than if deconfined matter is unpaired. We also explore the effect of different parametrizations of the hadronic equation of state (GM1 and NL3) and the effect of hyperons in the hadronic phase. We compare our results with those previously obtained employing the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model in the description of just deconfined matter and show that they are in excellent agreement if the bag constant $B$ is properly chosen., Comment: Accepted for publication in Physica A

We analyze the effect of color superconductivity in the transition from hot hadron matter to quark matter in the presence of a gas of trapped electron neutrinos. We adopt a two-phase picture in which the hadronic phase is described trough a nonlinear Walecka model and just deconfined matter through the MIT bag model including color superconductivity. We compare the present results with those obtained within the NJL model., Comment: Contribution for the Conference Proceedings of the Compact Stars in the QCD Phase Diagram III (CSQCD III) conference, December 12-15, 2012, Guaruj\'a, Brazil. http://www.astro.iag.usp.br/~foton/CSQCD3

The recent determination of the mass of the pulsar PSR J1614-2230 with $1.97 \pm 0.04 M_\odot$ by \cite{Demorest}, renewed the discussions about the possibility of exotic matter being present at the core of neutron stars. Since the description of matter at densities beyond nuclear saturation is model dependent, several works have explored different aspects of the fact that the maximum neutron star mass implied by any equation of state (EoS) must exceed the mass of PSR J1614-2230. In this article we present an extensive study of hybrid star masses using several parametrizations of a relativistic mean-field hadronic EoS together with a typical three-flavor NJL model with scalar, vector and 't Hooft interactions as realized., Comment: Contribution for the Conference Proceedings of the Compact Stars in the QCD Phase Diagram III (CSQCD III) conference, December 12-15, 2012, Guaruj\'a, Brazil. http://www.astro.iag.usp.br/~foton/CSQCD3

I briefly review some aspects of the effect of magnetic fields in the high density regime relevant to neutron stars, focusing mainly on compact star structure and composition, superconductivity, combustion processes, and gamma ray bursts., Comment: Invited review, conference "Magnetic Fields in the Universe: from Laboratory and Stars to Primordial Structures", Angra dos Reis, Brazil, Nov 28 - Dec 3, 2004, eds. E. M. de Gouveia dal Pino, G. Lugones & A. Lazarian, to be published in the AIP COnference Proceedings. 10 pages, no figures