Magnetic field inhibits the conversion of neutron stars to quark stars

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that high magnetic fields in neutron stars significantly hinder their transition into quark stars, impacting theories about their evolution and the state of matter under extreme conditions.

Contribution

It reveals that magnetic fields in neutron stars play a crucial role in preventing their conversion into quark stars, a novel insight into stellar evolution under strong magnetic influences.

Findings

High magnetic fields inhibit neutron star to quark star conversion

Magnetic effects are essential in understanding neutron star evolution

Results impact theories of dense matter and stellar transformation

Abstract

Neutron stars provide a natural laboratory to test some unique implications of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD)- the underlying theory of strong interactions- at extreme conditions of very high baryon density. It has been suggested that the true ground state of QCD is strange quark matter, and, consequently, neutron stars should convert to strange quark stars under suitable conditions. Substantial efforts have been, and are being, spent in studying the details of such conversion. In this letter, we show that the presence of high magnetic field, an essential feature of neutron stars, strongly inhibits the conversion of neutron stars to bare quark stars.