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Astrophysics

Quark matter in compact stars?

Abstract

Arising from: F. Özel. Nature 441, 1115–1117 (2006)10.1038/nature04858; Özel replies

In a theoretical interpretation of observational data from the neutron star EXO 0748–676, Özel concludes that quark matter probably does not exist in the centre of neutron stars1. However, this conclusion is based on a limited set of possible equations of state for quark matter. Here we compare Özel's observational limits with predictions based on a more comprehensive set of proposed quark-matter equations of state from the literature, and conclude that the presence of quark matter in EXO 0748–676 is not ruled out.

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Figure 1: Lower limit of mass, M, and radius, R, from Özel's analysis of EXO 0748–676 (1σ and 2σ error bars are shown), and the calculated MR curve for various quark- and nuclear-matter equations of state.

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Alford, M., Blaschke, D., Drago, A. et al. Quark matter in compact stars?. Nature 445, E7–E8 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05582

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