Ultra-compact neutron stars; where observations confront general relativity and quantum field theory |
| TYPE | Astrophysics Seminar |
| Speaker: | Prof. Ahmad Hujeirat |
| Affiliation: | Heidelberg University |
| Date: | 22.06.2016 |
| Time: | 14:30 - 15:30 |
| Location: | Lidow 620 |
| Abstract: | Astronomical observations reveal a gap in the mass spectrum of relativistic objects: neither black holes nor neutron stars with 2 - 5 solar masses have ever been observed. Based on the solution of the GR-equations modified to include a universal scalar field at the background, it is argued that all moderate and massive neutron stars should end invisible dark energy objects -DEOs. Triggered by the field-baryonic matter interaction at supranuclear densities, a phase transition from normal compressible nuclear matter into an incompressible quark-superfluid must occur at roughly three times the nuclear density. The injected dark energy via the field creates a global confining bag, inside which a Fermi-sea of freely moving quarks is formed in perfect agreement with the asymptotic freedom of quantum chromodynamics - QCD. While this may provide an explanation for the absence of low-mass stellar BHs, it also suggests that DEOs might have hidden connection to dark matter and dark energy in cosmology. |