Camouflage of the Phase Transition to Quark Matter in Neutron Stars

Abstract

Abstract It has been known for some time that compact stars containing quark matter can masquerade as neutron stars in the range of measured mass and radius, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions on the phases of matter present inside the star. Using the vector-enhanced Bag model (vBag), we examine mass–radius and mass–compactness relations with Maxwell and Gibbs construction for hybrid stars with transitions from nuclear matter to two- or three-flavor quark matter, including sequential transitions. Not only can stable hybrid stars with either two- or three-flavor quark matter mimic neutron stars (the traditional masquerade), it also appears difficult to distinguish two-flavor from three-flavor quark matter, even in cases where a phase transition can be said to have occurred, such as in the presence of a distinct kink in the mass–radius relation. Furthermore, allowing for sequential flavor transitions, we find that the transition into an unstable branch can be caused by either a transition from nuclear to unstable quark matter or the sequential transition from nuclear to stable but “masquerading” two-flavor to unstable three-flavor quark matter. Addressing chiral restoration as well as quark deconfinement in a model of the phase transition, as the vBag does, adds further flexibility to the high-density equation of state, motivating caution in using even high-precision M–R data to draw firm conclusions on the nature of phases and phase transitions in neutron stars.