On stability of a neutron star system in Palatini gravity

TL;DR

This paper derives generalized TOV equations for neutron stars in Palatini gravity and demonstrates their stability regardless of the specific form of the gravitational Lagrangian.

Contribution

It formulates the TOV equations within Palatini gravity and proves neutron star stability for any functional form of f(R).

Findings

Neutron stars are stable in Palatini gravity.

Generalized TOV equations are derived for f(R) theories.

Stability holds independently of the specific f(R) form.

Abstract

We formulate the generalized Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations for the $f(\hat{R})$ Palatini gravity in the case of static and spherical symmetric geometry. We also show that a neutron star is a stable system independently of the form of the functional $f(\hat{R})$