Strange stars in energy–momentum-conserved f(R,T) gravity

Abstract

For the accurate understanding of compact astrophysical objects, the Tolmann–Oppenheimer–Volkoff (TOV) equation has proved to be of great use. Nowadays, it has been derived in many alternative gravity theories, yielding the prediction of different macroscopic features for such compact objects. In this work, we apply the TOV equation of the energy–momentum–conserved version of the [Formula: see text] gravity theory to strange quark stars. The [Formula: see text] theory, with [Formula: see text] being a generic function of the Ricci scalar [Formula: see text] and trace of the energy–momentum tensor [Formula: see text] to replace [Formula: see text] in the Einstein–Hilbert gravitational action, has shown to provide a very interesting alternative to the cosmological constant [Formula: see text] in a cosmological scenario, particularly in the energy–momentum conserved case (a general [Formula: see text] function does not conserve the energy–momentum tensor). Here, we impose the condition [Formula: see text] to the astrophysical case, particularly the hydrostatic equilibrium of strange stars. We solve the TOV equation by taking into account linear equations of state to describe matter inside strange stars, such as [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], known as the MIT bag model, with [Formula: see text] the pressure and [Formula: see text] the energy density of the star, [Formula: see text] constant and [Formula: see text] the bag constant.