Stability of thin-shell interfaces inside compact stars

TL;DR

This paper investigates the stability of phase interfaces inside compact stars using the thin-shell Darmois-Israel formalism, highlighting its importance in modeling core-crust boundaries and phase transitions in exotic stellar objects.

Contribution

It applies the thin-shell formalism to analyze the stability of internal interfaces in compact stars, including strange quark stars with crust, providing new insights into their structural integrity.

Findings

Interfaces can be stable or unstable depending on physical parameters.

The formalism reveals non-trivial stability conditions for phase transitions.

Results are exemplified in models of incompressible stars and strange quark stars.

Abstract

We use the thin-shell Darmois-Israel formalism to model and assess the stability of the interfaces separating phases, e.g. the core and the crust, within compact stars. We exemplify the relevance and non-triviality of this treatment in the simplest case of an incompressible star, in constant pressure phase transitions, and in the case of strange quark stars with crust.