Strange Star Surface: A Crust with Nuggets

Journal Article · Fri Feb 03 00:00:00 EST 2006 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.041101· OSTI ID:20777003

Jaikumar, Prashanth ^[1]; Reddy, Sanjay; Steiner, Andrew W ^[2]

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1. Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)
2. Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)

We reexamine the surface composition of strange stars. Strange quark stars are hypothetical compact stars which could exist if strange quark matter was absolutely stable. It is widely accepted that they are characterized by an enormous density gradient (10{sup 26} g/cm{sup 4}) and large electric fields at the surface. By investigating the possibility of realizing a heterogeneous crust, comprised of nuggets of strange quark matter embedded in an uniform electron background, we find that the strange star surface has a much reduced density gradient and negligible electric field. We comment on how our findings will impact various proposed observable signatures for strange stars.

• OSTI ID: 20777003
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 96, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.041101; (c) 2006 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
DENSITY
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRONS
QUARK MATTER
S QUARKS
STARS
SURFACES