Frozen Neutron Stars in Four-Dimensional Non-polynomial Gravities

This paper investigates the structure and properties of neutron stars in four-dimensional non-polynomial gravities. Solving the modified Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations for three different equations of state (BSk19, SLy4, AP4), we confirm that neutron star solutions remain in existence. As the modification parameter $\alpha$ increases, neutron stars grow in both radius and mass. We find that, when the parameter $\alpha$ is sufficiently large, a frozen state emerges at the end of the neutron-star sequence. In this state, the metric functions approach zero extremely close to the stellar surface, forming a critical horizon, making it nearly indistinguishable from a black hole to an external observer. Such a frozen neutron star constitutes a universal endpoint of the neutron-star sequence in this theory, independent of the choice of the equation of state. Based on our results and current observational constraints, we derive bounds on the modification parameter $\alpha$ and show that frozen neutron stars remain allowed in the bounds.