Maximum mass of a hybrid star having a mixed-phase region based on constraints set by the pulsar PSR J1614-2230

Abstract

Recent observation of pulsar PSR J1614-2230 with a mass of about two solar masses poses a severe constraint on the equations of state (EOSs) of matter describing stars under extreme conditions. Neutron stars (NSs) can reach the mass limit set by PSR J1614-2230, but stars having hyperons or quark stars (QSs) having boson condensates, with softer EOSs, can barely reach such limit and are ruled out. QSs with pure strange matter cannot attain such high mass unless the effect of strong coupling constants or color superconductivity are considered. In this work I calculate the upper mass limit for a hybrid star (HS) having a quark-hadron mixed phase. The hadronic matter (having hyperons) EOS is described by relativistic mean field theory and the quark matter EOS is modeled according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology bag model. The intermediate mixed phase is constructed using the Glendenning prescription. A HS with a mixed phase cannot reach the mass limit set by PSR J1614-2230 unless one assumes a density-dependent bag constant. However, for such case the mixed-phase region is small. The maximum mass of a mixed hybrid star obtained with such a mixed-phase region is $2.01{M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$. A stiffer hadronic EOS can raise the maximum mass of a mixed HS to $2.1$ ${M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$.