Neutron stars in Gauss-Bonnet gravity -- nonlinear scalarization and gravitational phase transitions

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that nonlinear scalarization and gravitational phase transitions occur in neutron stars within Gauss-Bonnet gravity, suggesting these phenomena are common and have significant astrophysical implications.

Contribution

It extends the study of gravitational phase transitions to Gauss-Bonnet gravity, showing they are widespread and not limited to specific theories or parameters.

Findings

Nonlinear scalarization occurs in neutron stars in Gauss-Bonnet gravity.

Gravitational phase transitions are observable over a wide parameter range.

These phenomena are more common than previously thought.

Abstract

It was recently discovered that scalarized neutron stars in scalar-tensor theories can undergo a gravitational phase transition to a non-scalarized (GR) state. Surprisingly, even though the driving mechanism is totally different, the process resembles closely the first-order matter phase transition from confined nuclear matter to deconfined quark matter in neutron star cores. The studies until now were limited, though, to only one theory of gravity and a limited range of parameters. With the present paper, we aim at demonstrating that gravitational phase transitions are more common than expected. More specifically, we show that the phenomenon of nonlinear scalarization is present for neutron stars in Gauss-Bonnet gravity leading to the possibility of gravitational phase transition. Moreover, it can be observed for a wide range of parameters so no fine-tuning is needed. This solidifies the conjecture that gravitational phase transitions are an important phenomenon for compact objects and their astrophysical implications deserve an in-depth study.