Electroweak stars: how nature may capitalize on the standard model's ultimate fuel

TL;DR

This paper proposes the theoretical existence of electroweak stars, compact objects with a hot core where standard model processes could produce significant energy, potentially representing a new stellar evolution stage.

Contribution

It provides a solution to the TOV equations for electroweak stars, describing their structure and potential stability, a novel concept in stellar physics.

Findings

Electroweak stars could have masses around 1.3 solar masses and radii of about 8 km.

They contain a small electroweak core where standard-model processes occur.

These stars could have lifetimes exceeding ten million years.

Abstract

We study the possible existence of an electroweak star - a compact stellar-mass object whose central core temperature is higher than the electroweak symmetry restoration temperature. We found a solution to the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations describing such an object. The parameters of such a star are not substantially different from a neutron star - its mass is around 1.3 Solar masses while its radius is around 8 km. What is different is the existence of a small electroweak core. The source of energy in the core that can at least temporarily balance gravity are standard-model non-perturbative baryon number (B) and lepton number (L) violating processes that allow the chemical potential of $B+L$ to relax to zero. The energy released at the core is enormous, but gravitational redshift and the enhanced neutrino interaction cross section at these energies make the energy release rate moderate at the surface of the star. The lifetime of this new quasi-equilibrium can be more than ten million years. This is long enough to represent a new stage in the evolution of a star if stellar evolution can take it there.