Conversion of nuclear to 2-flavour quark matter in rotating compact stars: A general relativistic perspective

TL;DR

This paper investigates the relativistic dynamics of nuclear to two-flavour quark matter conversion in rotating neutron stars, revealing fragmentation of the conversion front and emphasizing the importance of general relativity in modeling such processes.

Contribution

It provides a general relativistic analysis of the conversion process, showing the fragmentation of the front and the inadequacy of non-relativistic approaches.

Findings

Conversion front fragments into multiple parts with different velocities.

Conversion time is on the order of a few milliseconds.

Non-relativistic models are insufficient for accurate description.

Abstract

The conversion of neutron star to strange star is argued to be a two step process. The first process involves the deconfinement of nuclear to two-flavour quark matter. The GR results shows that the propagating front breaks up into fragments which propagate with different velocities along different directions. The time taken for this conversion to happen is of the order of few $ms$. This calculation indicates the inadequacy of non-relativistic (NR) or even Special Relativistic (SR) treatments for these cases.