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Strongly interacting matter exhibits deconfined behavior in massive neutron stars

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arxiv 2303.11356 v2 pith:7TMRUCJM submitted 2023-03-20 astro-ph.HE hep-phnucl-th

classification astro-ph.HEhep-phnucl-th
keywords matterdeconfinedquarkstarsapproximatebehaviorconformalconsistent
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
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Neutron-star cores contain matter at the highest densities in our Universe. This highly compressed matter may undergo a phase transition where nuclear matter melts into deconfined quark matter, liberating its constituent quarks and gluons. Quark matter exhibits an approximate conformal symmetry, predicting a specific form for its equation of state (EoS), but it is currently unknown whether the transition takes place inside at least some physical neutron stars. Here, we quantify this likelihood by combining information from astrophysical observations and theoretical calculations. Using Bayesian inference, we demonstrate that in the cores of maximally massive stars, the EoS is consistent with quark matter. We do this by establishing approximate conformal symmetry restoration with high credence at the highest densities probed and demonstrating that the number of active degrees of freedom is consistent with deconfined matter. The remaining likelihood is observed to correspond to EoSs exhibiting phase-transition-like behavior, treated as arbitrarily rapid crossovers in our framework.

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Cited by 6 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. Quarkyonic Stars with Strangeness

    nucl-th 2026-07 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

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    A three-parameter speed-of-sound model reproduces relativistic mean-field neutron-star equations of state and produces curvature and trace-anomaly sign changes without any phase transition.

  3. Locating the QCD critical point with neutron-star observations

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    Bayesian analysis of a hybrid holographic EOS with neutron-star constraints locates the QCD critical endpoint at μ≈626 MeV and T≈119 MeV and predicts a strong first-order deconfinement transition at zero temperature.

  4. Can average speed of sound and thermodynamic response functions signal the exotic phases in neutron star cores?

    nucl-th 2026-07 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    Average speed of sound, its logarithmic derivative, and thermodynamic response functions distinguish sharp-interface versus mixed-phase hadron-quark transitions inside hybrid neutron stars.

  5. Isentropic thermodynamics across the hadron-quark mixed phase in a two-phase model with a PNJL quark description

    hep-ph 2026-03 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    In a two-phase RMF+PNJL model, isentropic trajectories through the hadron-quark mixed phase heat at low entropy per baryon and cool near the critical end point, with entropy-dependent speed-of-sound structures.

  6. Toward a Unified Understanding of the Dense Matter Equation of State

    nucl-th 2025-11 conditional novelty 2.0 of 10

    A review of three Bayesian/computational frameworks for combining heavy-ion and astrophysical constraints on the dense-matter equation of state, plus a proposed unified integration workflow.

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