Threshold Temperature for Neutron-Star Emergence in a Gravitational Thermodynamic Framework
Abstract
Motivated by the entropy-functional formulation of emergent gravity, in which spacetime is endowed with a thermodynamic entropy that, upon extremization, yields the Einstein field equations, we reformulate the onset of a neutron star as a bulk gravitational-thermodynamic threshold problem. By combining the Jacobson-Padmanabhan perspective of gravity as an equation of state with Tolman redshift, Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff hydrostatics, and a bulk binding versus thermal energy balance, we derive four characteristic temperature scales for a static compact object: the Newtonian virial threshold, the redshifted threshold as observed at infinity, the degenerate-matter threshold, and the surface screen temperature.The paper supplies a mathematically expanded derivation, explicit TOV and Fermi-gas formulae, and thermodynamic consistency relations.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2603.07951,
title = {Threshold Temperature for Neutron-Star Emergence in a Gravitational Thermodynamic Framework},
author = {Wen-Xiang Chen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.07951},
year = {2026}
}