Tidal deformability and I-Love-Q relations for gravastars with polytropic thin shells

TL;DR

This paper investigates the deformation properties of gravastars with polytropic thin shells, revealing that their I-Love-Q relations differ significantly from neutron stars and approach black hole limits, with no universal behavior across equations of state.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of I-Love-Q relations for gravastars with polytropic shells, highlighting their distinct behavior and potential observational signatures.

Findings

I-Love-Q relations differ markedly from neutron stars

Love number and quadrupole moment can be negative for less compact models

Relations approach black-hole limits as compactness increases

Abstract

The moment of inertia, the spin-induced quadrupole moment, and the tidal Love number of neutron-star and quark-star models are related through some relations which depend only mildly on the stellar equation of state. These "I-Love-Q" relations have important implications for astrophysics and gravitational-wave astronomy. An interesting problem is whether similar relations hold for other compact objects and how they approach the black-hole limit. To answer these questions, here we investigate the deformation properties of a large class of thin-shell gravastars, which are exotic compact objects that do not possess an event horizon nor a spacetime singularity. Working in a small-spin and small-tidal field expansion, we calculate the moment of inertia, the quadrupole moment, and the (quadrupolar electric) tidal Love number of gravastars with a polytropic thin shell. The I-Love-Q relations of a thin-shell gravastar are drastically different from those of an ordinary neutron star. The Love number and quadrupole moment are negative for less compact models and the I-Love-Q relations continuously approach the black-hole limit. We consider a variety of polytropic equations of state for the matter shell, and find no universality in the I-Love-Q relations. However, we cannot deny the possibility that, similarly to the neutron-star case, an approximate universality might emerge for a limited class of equations of state. Finally, we discuss how a measurement of the tidal deformability from the gravitational-wave detection of a compact-binary inspiral can be used to constrain exotic compact objects like gravastars.