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Title: Thickness of the strangelet-crystal crust of a strange star

Abstract

It has recently been pointed out that if the surface tension of quark matter is low enough, the surface of a strange star will be a crust consisting of a crystal of charged strangelets in a neutralizing background of electrons. This affects the behavior of the surface and must be taken into account in efforts to observationally rule out strange stars. We calculate the thickness of this 'mixed phase' crust, taking into account the effects of surface tension and Debye screening of electric charge. Our calculation uses a generic parametrization of the equation of state of quark matter. For a reasonable range of quark matter equations of state, and surface tension of order a few MeV/fm{sup 2}, we find that the preferred crystal structure always involves spherical strangelets, not rods or slabs of quark matter. We find that for a star of radius 10 km and mass 1.5M{sub {center_dot}}, the strangelet-crystal crust can be from zero to hundreds of meters thick, the thickness being greater when the strange quark is heavier and the surface tension is smaller. For smaller quark stars the crust will be even thicker.

Authors:
;  [1]
  1. Physics Department, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
21192350
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 78; Journal Issue: 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevC.78.045802; (c) 2008 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0556-2813
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS; CRYSTALS; ELECTRIC CHARGES; ELECTRONS; EQUATIONS OF STATE; MASS; MEV RANGE; QUARK MATTER; S QUARKS; SCREENING; SPHERICAL CONFIGURATION; STARS; SURFACE TENSION; SURFACES; THICKNESS

Citation Formats

Alford, Mark G, and Eby, David A. Thickness of the strangelet-crystal crust of a strange star. United States: N. p., 2008. Web. doi:10.1103/PHYSREVC.78.045802.
Alford, Mark G, & Eby, David A. Thickness of the strangelet-crystal crust of a strange star. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVC.78.045802
Alford, Mark G, and Eby, David A. 2008. "Thickness of the strangelet-crystal crust of a strange star". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVC.78.045802.
@article{osti_21192350,
title = {Thickness of the strangelet-crystal crust of a strange star},
author = {Alford, Mark G and Eby, David A},
abstractNote = {It has recently been pointed out that if the surface tension of quark matter is low enough, the surface of a strange star will be a crust consisting of a crystal of charged strangelets in a neutralizing background of electrons. This affects the behavior of the surface and must be taken into account in efforts to observationally rule out strange stars. We calculate the thickness of this 'mixed phase' crust, taking into account the effects of surface tension and Debye screening of electric charge. Our calculation uses a generic parametrization of the equation of state of quark matter. For a reasonable range of quark matter equations of state, and surface tension of order a few MeV/fm{sup 2}, we find that the preferred crystal structure always involves spherical strangelets, not rods or slabs of quark matter. We find that for a star of radius 10 km and mass 1.5M{sub {center_dot}}, the strangelet-crystal crust can be from zero to hundreds of meters thick, the thickness being greater when the strange quark is heavier and the surface tension is smaller. For smaller quark stars the crust will be even thicker.},
doi = {10.1103/PHYSREVC.78.045802},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/21192350}, journal = {Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics},
issn = {0556-2813},
number = 4,
volume = 78,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2008},
month = {Wed Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2008}
}