Article,
QCD in neutron stars and strange stars
(Jan 28, 2011)
Abstract
This paper provides an overview of the possible role of Quantum Chromo
Dynamics (QDC) for neutron stars and strange stars. The fundamental degrees of
freedom of QCD are quarks, which may exist as unconfined (color
superconducting) particles in the cores of neutron stars. There is also the
theoretical possibility that a significantly large number of up, down, and
strange quarks may settle down in a new state of matter known as strange quark
matter, which, by hypothesis, could be more stable than atomic nuclei. In the
latter case new classes of self-bound, color superconducting objects, ranging
from strange quark nuggets to strange quark stars, should exist. The properties
of such objects will be reviewed along with the possible existence of
deconfined quarks in neutron stars. Implications for observational astrophysics
are pointed out.
