Stability windows for proto-quark stars

We investigate the existence of possible stable strange matter and related stability windows at finite temperature for different models that are generally applied to describe quark stars, namely, the quark-mass density dependent model, the MIT bag model and the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. We emphasize that, although the limits for stable strange matter depend on a comparison with the ground state of 56Fe, which is a zero temperature state, the quantity that has to be used in the search for strange matter in proto-quark stars is the free energy and we analyze stability windows up to temperatures of the order of 40 MeV. The effects of strong magnetic fields on stability windows are computed and the resulting mass-radius relations for different stages of the proto-quark star are analyzed.Comment: Published versio

Proto-Neutron and Neutron Stars in a Chiral SU(3) Model

A hadronic chiral SU(3) model is applied to neutron and proto-neutron stars, taking into account trapped neutrinos, finite temperature and entropy. The transition to the chirally restored phase is studied and global properties of the stars like minimum and maximum masses and radii are calculated for different cases. In addition, the effects of rotation on neutron star masses are included and the conservation of baryon number and angular momentum determine the maximum frequencies of rotation during the cooling

Modeling Hybrid Stars with an SU(3) non-linear sigma model

We study the behavior of hybrid stars using an extended hadronic and quark SU(3) non-linear sigma model. The degrees of freedom change naturally, in this model, from hadrons to quarks as the density/temperature increases. At zero temperature, we reproduce massive neutron stars containing a core of hybrid matter of 2 km for the non-rotating case and 1.18 km and 0.87 km, in the equatorial and polar directions respectively, for stars rotating at the Kepler frequency (physical cases lie in between). The cooling of such stars is also analyzed.Comment: Revised version, references and figures added. Accepted for publication in Physical Review

Delta Baryons in Neutron-Star Matter under Strong Magnetic Fields

In this work, we study magnetic field effects on neutron star matter containing the baryon octet and additional heavier spin 3/2 baryons (the $\Delta$'s). We make use of two different relativistic hadronic models that contain an additional vector-isovector self interaction for the mesons: one version of a relativistic mean field (RMF) model and the Chiral Mean Field (CMF) model. We find that both the additional interaction and a strong magnetic field enhance the $\Delta$ baryon population in dense matter, while decreasing the relative density of hyperons. At the same time that the vector-isovector meson interaction modifies neutron-star masses very little ($<0.1~M_\odot$), it decreases their radii considerably, allowing both models to be in better agreement with observations. Together, these features indicate that magnetic neutron stars are likely to contain $\Delta$ baryons in their interior.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Hybrid Stars in an SU(3) Parity Doublet Model

We apply an extended version of the SU(3) parity model, containing quark degrees of freedom, to study neutron stars. The model successfully reproduces the main thermodynamic features of QCD which allows us to describe the composition of dense matter. Chiral symmetry restoration is realized inside the star and the chiral partners of the baryons appear, their masses becoming degenerate. Furthermore, quark degrees of freedom appear in a transition to a deconfined state. Performing an investigation of the macroscopic properties of neutron stars, we show that observational constraints, like mass and thermal evolution, are satisfied and new predictions can be made

A Novel Approach to Model Hybrid Stars

We extend the hadronic SU(3) non-linear sigma model to include quark degrees of freedom. The choice of potential for the Polyakov loop as a function of temperature and chemical potential allows us to construct a realistic phase diagram from the analysis of the order parameters of the system. These parameters are the chiral condensate, for the chiral symmetry restoration and the Polyakov loop, for the deconfinement to quark matter. Besides reproducing lattice QCD results, for zero and low chemical potential, we are in agreement with neutron star observations for zero temperature