arXiv subjects

Milena Albino

Publications and source records attributed to Milena Albino.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Recurring region for neutron-star observables

In this letter, we report a novel, somewhat analytical way to produce equations of state (EOSs) that generate particular values of neutron star mass, radius, and tidal deformability. This is possible because our description for the EoS of dense matter can produce recurring regions, small areas where several EoSs cross in the mass-radius and mass-tidal deformability diagrams. We can place recurring regions in desired locations of these diagrams, corresponding e.g., to a given observation. Our prescription is versatile, in the sense that different microscopic models can be used for the low density hadronic phase and high density quark phase, as long as they are connected by a percolation, a description that mimics quark deconfinement and is motivated by QCD. The several EoSs that pass by a recurring region can present different thresholds for the boundaries of the percolation region (different beginning and ending for the quark deconfinement region), as well as different orders for the phase transition at the boundaries. When combining all these features, our prescription allows one not only to produce an EoS that matches an observation, but also one that matches specific chosen criteria for the EoS. The EoSs produced by this new method will be specially suitable for the study of dense-matter properties in future gravitational-wave observations, when both the inspiral and post-merger phase signals will become available. Our numerical code that calculates recurring regions using CompOSE microscopic EoSs is open source and publicly available.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Hybrid Star Properties with NJL and MFTQCD Model: A Bayesian Approach

The composition of the core of neutron stars (NS) is still under debate. One possibility is that because of the high densities reached in their cores, matter could be deconfined into quark matter. We investigate the existence of hybrid stars, using microscopic models to describe different phases of matter. Within the adopted microscopic models we calculate properties of NS and properties of matter. We want to probe the pQCD calculations influence and analyze properties that identify a transition to deconfined matter. Bayesian approach is applied to generate 8 sets of equations of state (EOS). A Maxwell construction is adopted to describe the deconfinement transition. For the hadron phase, we consider a stiff and a soft EOS obtained from the Relativistic Mean Field model with nonlinear meson terms. For the quark phase, we use 2 different models: the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with multiquark interactions and the Mean Field Theory of QCD, a model similar to the vector MIT bag model. Bayesian inference was applied to determine the model parameters that satisfy the X-ray observations from NICER and have phase transition at densities between 0.15 - 0.40 fm$^{-3}$. We also applied restrictions from the pQCD calculations to half of the sets. Hybrid stars are compatible with current observational data. The pQCD restrictions reduce the value of the $M_{max}$. However, even applying this restriction, the models were able to reach values of $2.1 - 2.3 M_\odot$. The conformal limit was still not attained at the center of the most massive stars. The vector interactions are essential to describe hybrid stars with a mass above $2 M_\odot$. The multiquark interactions introduced may affect the limits of some quantities considered as indicators of the presence of a deconfined phase. It is possible to find a set of EOS, that predict that inside NS the renormalized matter trace anomaly is always positive.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2026

A Bayesian Inference of Hybrid Stars with Large Quark Cores

Neutron stars (NSs) are interesting objects capable of reaching densities unattainable on Earth. The properties of matter under these conditions remain a mystery. Exotic matter, including quark matter, may be present in the NS core. In this work, we explore the possible compositions of NS cores, in particular, the possible existence of large quark cores. We use the Relativistic Mean Field (RMF) model with nonlinear terms for the hadron phase and the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model and Mean Field Theory of Quantum Chromodynamics (MFTQCD) for the quark phase. Through Bayesian inference, we obtain different sets of equations: four sets with hybrid equations and one set with only the hadron phase. We impose constraints regarding the properties of nuclear matter, X-ray observational data from NICER, gravitational wave data from the binary neutron star merger GW170817, perturbative QCD (pQCD) calculations, and causality. The MFTQCD allows for a phase transition to quark matter at low densities, just above saturation density, while for the NJL sets, the phase transition occurs above twice the saturation density. As a result, the MFTQCD model predicts the presence of quark matter in the inner core of 1.4 M$_\odot$ NSs, while NJL models suggest a low probability of quark matter in the interior of a 1.4 M$_\odot$ NS. Both models predict the existence of quark matter in 2 M$_\odot$ NSs. The slope of the mass-radius curve has been shown to carry information about the presence of quark matter. In particular, a positive slope at 1.8 M$_\odot$ indicates the presence of non-nucleonic matter. A hybrid star with a stiff quark equation of state could explain a larger radius in more massive stars, such as two solar mass stars, compared to canonical NSs.

nucl-th↗