UV and IR quantum-spacetime effects for the Chandrasekhar model

TL;DR

This paper explores how quantum-spacetime effects, especially those related to ultraviolet/infrared mixing, could influence the properties of white dwarfs, potentially observable in certain stellar regimes.

Contribution

It introduces a modified Chandrasekhar model incorporating quantum-spacetime features and identifies conditions where these effects might be significant.

Findings

Ultraviolet effects are negligible in observable regimes.

Infrared effects from ultraviolet/infrared mixing could impact certain white dwarfs.

Planck-scale effects might be relevant in ultra-high-density stars.

Abstract

We modify the Chandrasekhar model of white dwarfs by introducing novel momentum-space features that characterize the analysis of some quantum-spacetime scenarios. We find that the rather standard ultraviolet effects of spacetime quantization can only be significant in a regime where the Chandrasekhar model anyway lacks any contact with observations. But a new class of quantum-spacetime effects inspired by the mechanism of "ultraviolet/infrared mixing" could be relevant for white dwarfs whose mass is roughly half the mass of the Sun, some of which are described in the literature as "strange white dwarfs". We also offer a preliminary argument suggesting that Planck-scale (ultraviolet) effects could be significant in cases where ultra-high densities are present, even when the relevant star is still gigantic in Planck-length units.