Related papers: RX J1856.5-3754: A strange star with solid quark s…
We calculate the equation of state of strange quark matter and the interior structure of strange quark stars in a Dyson-Schwinger quark model within rainbow or Ball-Chiu vertex approximation. We emphasize constraints on the parameter space…
In this talk, I present the recent theoretical results on the electrical conductivity (EC) sigma of quark matter, using the Kubo formula at finite temperature and zero quark density (T>0, mu=0) in the presence of an external strong magnetic…
According to quantum chromodynamics (QCD), matter at ultra-high densities will take the form of a color-superconducting quark liquid, in which there is a condensate of Cooper pairs of quarks near the Fermi surface. I present a review of the…
We estimate the maximal deformation that can be sustained by a rotating neutron star with a crystalline colour superconducting quark core. Our results suggest that current gravitational-wave data from LIGO have already reached the level…
Transport coefficients of dense quark matter are needed to study properties of compact stars. They can tell us about the cooling, vibrational and rotational properties of the star. We report below a computation of the shear viscosity in the…
Most known terrestrial planets orbit small stars with radii less than 60% that of the Sun. Theoretical models predict that these planets are more vulnerable to atmospheric loss than their counterparts orbiting Sun-like stars. To determine…
This is the second of two papers reporting observations and analysis of the unusually bright (m_b=14.4), luminous (M_B=-25.5), nearby (z=0.192) narrow-line quasar PHL 1811. The first paper reported that PHL 1811 is intrinsically X-ray weak,…
Background: The two-flavor color superconducting (2SC) phase of quark matter is a possible constituent of the core of neutron stars. To assess its impact on the observable behavior of the star one must analyze transport properties, which in…
Recent indications for high neutron star masses (M \sim 2 M_sun) and large radii (R > 12 km) could rule out soft equations of state and have provoked a debate whether the occurence of quark matter in compact stars can be excluded as well.…
We report here on X-ray and IR observations of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 1RXS J170849-400910. First, we report on new XMM-Newton, Swift-XRT and Chandra observations of this AXP, which confirm the intensity-hardness correlation observed in…
Thanks to the high counting statistics provided by a recent XMM-Newton observation of RX J1856.5-3754, we have discovered that this isolated neutron star pulsates at a period of 7.055 s. This confirms that RX J1856.5-3754 is similar in…
We review the status of research on the cooling of compact stars, with emphasis on the influence of color superconducting quark matter phases. Although a consistent microscopic approach is not yet available, severe constraints on the phase…
It is shown that extremely strong electric fields may be generated at the surface of strange quark matter in the color-flavor locked phase because of the surface effects. Some properties of strange stars made of this matter are briefly…
We review recent progress on the phenomena of color superconductivity in high density quark matter. We begin with a brief overview of the unique aspects of physics near a Fermi surface and the implications for renormalization group (RG)…
We consider a thin ($\sim 10^2-10^3$ fm) layer of electrons (the electrosphere) at the quark surface of a bare strange star, taking into account the surface effects at the boundary with the vacuum. The quark surface holds the electron layer…
A series of five unusual slow glitches of the radio pulsar B1822-09 (PSR J1825-0935) were observed over the 1995-2005 interval. This phenomenon is understood in a solid quark star model, where the reasonable parameters for slow glitches are…
The strangeness contribution to the vector and axial form factors of the proton is presented for momentum transfers in the range 0.45 < $Q^2$ < 1.0 GeV$^2$. The results are obtained via a combined analysis of forward-scattering…
We report on submillimetre bolometer observations of the isolated neutron star RX J1856.5--3754 using the LABOCA bolometer array on the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) Telescope. No cold dust continuum emission peak at the position of…
Strange quark matter (SQM) is considered a possible true ground state of QCD at high densities. This idea motivates research on exotic compact objects and certain cosmic-ray phenomena. For instance, the remnant HESS J1731-347 contains a…
The 4.8 GHz lightcurves of the scintillating intra-day variable quasar J1819+3845 during 2004-5 exhibit sharp structure, down to a time scale of 15 minutes, that was absent from lightcurves taken prior to this period and from the 2006…