Stable Phases of Boson Stars

TL;DR

This paper investigates the stability and physical properties of boson stars, revealing two stable phases separated by an unstable region, with the high-density phase approaching black hole formation, and compares these to other compact objects.

Contribution

It provides a stability analysis of boson stars using catastrophe theory, identifying multiple stable and unstable phases and their relation to black hole limits.

Findings

Boson stars have two stable regions separated by an unstable phase.

High density phase approaches black hole limit with spiraling instability.

Mini boson stars exhibit only a single stable phase when interactions are negligible.

Abstract

We analyze the physical properties of boson stars, which possess counterparts in flat space-time, Q-balls. Applying a stability analysis via catastrophe theory, we show that the families of rotating and non-rotating boson stars exhibit two stable regions, separated by an unstable region. Analogous to the case of white dwarfs and neutron stars, these two regions correspond to compact stars of lower and higher density. Moreover, the high density phase ends when the black hole limit is approached. Here another unstable phase is encountered, exhibiting the typical spiralling phenomenon close to the black hole limit. When the interaction terms in the scalar field potential become negligible, the properties of mini boson stars are recovered, which possess only a single stable phase.