Universality in spacetime $\omega$ modes of quarkyonic stars
Abstract
The gravitational wave mode spectrum presents a unique window into the dense interior of neutron stars, probing physics inaccessible to electromagnetic observations. This work investigates the modes of compact stars composed of quarkyonic matter. The quarkyonic model, which describes a cross-over transition between nucleonic and quark matter treated as quasi-particles, is formulated within the Relativistic Mean-Field (RMF) theory using the G3 and IOPB-I parameterizations. This core is surrounded by a mantle of hadronic matter, creating a multicomponent stellar interior. The overall Equation of State (EOS) is governed by two key parameters: the transition density (), the QCD confinement scale (), which are varied to construct models consistent with current astrophysical constraints on mass and radius. We compute the complex eigenfrequencies (damped oscillations) of the fundamental and first excited modes using the phase-amplitude method within a full general relativistic framework. Our simulations reveal that the admixed quarkyonic structure produces a unique mode signature, distinctly different from pure hadronic or hybrid stars. The spectrum exhibits a strong, degenerate dependence on the EOS, where the stiffening effect of the quarkyonic matter influences oscillation frequencies and damping times in a characteristic manner. We also demonstrate that mode frequencies for quarkyonic stars follow approximate universal relations, largely independent of the EOS.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2602.22641,
title = {Universality in spacetime $\omega$ modes of quarkyonic stars},
author = {D. Dey and Jeet Amrit Pattnaik and R. N. Panda and S. K. Patra},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.22641},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
Accepted in Physical Review D