Structure of Quark Stars

TL;DR

This paper reviews the structure of hypothetical quark stars made of stable strange quark matter, highlighting their unique features such as dual parameters and ultra-high electric fields, which could distinguish them observationally from neutron stars.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of quark star structures, emphasizing differences from neutron stars and potential observational signatures.

Findings

Quark stars are determined by central density and crust base density.

Bare quark stars have ultra-high electric fields (~10^{18}-10^{19} V/cm).

Structural features may allow observational differentiation from neutron stars.

Abstract

This paper gives an brief overview of the structure of hypothetical strange quarks stars (quark stars, for short), which are made of absolutely stable 3-flavor strange quark matter. Such objects can be either bare or enveloped in thin nuclear crusts, which consist of heavy ions immersed in an electron gas. In contrast to neutron stars, the structure of quark stars is determined by two (rather than one) parameters, the central star density and the density at the base of the crust. If bare, quark stars possess ultra-high electric fields on the order of 10^{18} to 10^{19} V/cm. These features render the properties of quark stars more multifaceted than those of neutron stars and may allow one to observationally distinguish quark stars from neutron stars.