MSW effect with quark matter: Neutron Star as a case study

TL;DR

This paper explores the MSW effect in quark matter within neutron stars, suggesting that high-density conditions could facilitate strange quark conversion, potentially addressing the hyperon puzzle and dense matter equations of state.

Contribution

It investigates the resonance conditions for quark flavor conversion in neutron star cores, highlighting the significance of density and implications for dense matter physics.

Findings

Resonance for down-to-strange quark conversion requires extremely high density.

Neutron stars provide conditions where conversion is statistically significant.

Potential resolution of the hyperon puzzle and dense matter equations of state.

Abstract

With the recent findings from various astrophysical results hinting towards possible existence of strange quark matters with the baryonic resonances such as $\Lambda^0, \Sigma^0, \Xi, \Omega$ in the core of neutron stars, we investigate the MSW effect, in general, in quark matter. We find that the resonance condition for the complete conversion of down-quark to strange quark requires estremely large matter density ($\rho_u \simeq 10^{5}\,\mbox{fm}^{-3} $). Nonetheless the neutron stars provide a best condition for the conversion to be statistically significant which is of the same order as is expected from imposing charge neutrality condition. This has a possibility of resolving the hyperon puzzle as well as the equation of state for dense baryonic matter.