arXiv subjects

Oleksii Ivanytskyi

Publications and source records attributed to Oleksii Ivanytskyi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Confining density functional approach to the QCD phase diagram at low temperatures and thermal twin stars

We present a density functional-based equation of state for warm, dense nuclear matter with a transition to deconfined quark matter for applications to simulations of supernova explosions and neutron star mergers, but also for the cosmological evolution of Q-balls. For the quark matter equation of state, we employ a recently developed confining density functional approach while nuclear matter is described within a relativistic density functional model of the DD2 class. The phase transition is obtained by a Maxwell construction at constant entropy per baryon. We discuss the solutions of TOV equations for isentropic hybrid stars for the hybrid equation of state model DDf-SFM (DD2-$\chi$CDF) without (with) color superconductivity and find that at finite temperatures above a critical value of entropy per baryon sequences of disconnected third family branches ("thermal twin stars") may appear for the DDf-SFM model, while they are absent for the color superconducting model and at $T=0$. We discuss the relation of this critical entropy per baryon to the Seidov criterion of gravitational instability for $T=0$ and find that it is a good guide. We suggest that the presence of thermal twin stars may be regarded as an indicator for the core-collapse supernova explodability of massive blue supergiant stars and thus serve as a new criterion for the reliability of hybrid equation of state models. By this argument, strong color superconductivity shall be excluded and it remains to be shown whether models with moderate diquark pairing could fulfill the thermal twin constraint. For the case of symmetric matter, we compare the resulting hybrid EOS with the flow constraint by Danielewicz et al. and find a a sensitivity of the onset density for deconfinement on the presence or absence of color superconductivity.

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arXiv2026

Isospin-symmetry violation -- kaons and beyond (ISO-BREAK 25: summary and outlook)

This report summarizes the presentations and discussions during the ISO-BREAK 25 Workshop ``Isospin symmetry violation: kaons and beyond'', which was held at Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce on October 23-25, 2025. We address the current status of the isospin-symmetry breaking discovered by NA61/SHINE in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the CERN SPS, its confirmation by other experiments and studies in \ee and deep inelastic scattering. In addition, we discuss the theoretical status as well as we outline experimental and theoretical priorities towards understanding this currently unexplained phenomenon.

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arXiv2026

Primordial Black Holes Formation Beyond the Standard Cosmic QCD Transition

We review the role of primordial black holes (PBHs) for illuminating the dark ages of the cosmological evolution and as dark matter (DM) candidates. We elucidate the role of phase transitions for primordial black hole formation in the early Universe and focus our attention on the cosmological QCD phase transition within a recent microscopical model. We explore the impact of physics beyond the Standard Model (SM) on the cosmic equation of state and the probability distribution for the formation of PBHs which serve as candidates for DM and contribute to present-day binary black-hole merger events.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Rapidly Spinning Massive Pulsars as an Indicator of Quark Deconfinement

We study rotating hybrid stars, with particular emphasis on the effect of spin on the deconfinement phase transition and star properties. Our analysis is based on a hybrid equation of state with a phase transition from hadronic matter containing hyperons to color-superconducting quark matter, where the quark phase is modeled within a relativistic density functional approach. By varying the strength of the vector repulsion and diquark pairing couplings in the microscopic quark Lagrangian, we construct a set of hybrid star sequences with different quark-matter onset densities. This framework ensures consistency with astrophysical and gravitational wave constraints on mass, radius, and tidal deformability.

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arXiv2025

Color-superconducting quarkyonic matter

We explore the role of color superconductivity in quarkyonic matter under the conditions of color and electric neutrality at $\beta$- and strong equilibrium, as relevant for neutron stars. By explicitly incorporating the color-superconducting pairing gap into the phenomenological model of a smooth transition from hadron to quark matter, we extend the known quarkyonic framework to include this essential aspect relevant at high densities. The momentum dependence of the pairing gap, motivated by the running of the QCD coupling and introduced similarly to chiral quark models with nonlocal interaction, is a novel element of the model that is crucial for enabling the simultaneous onset of all color-flavor quark states in the presence of color superconductivity. While asymptotically conformal behavior of the present model is ensured by construction, we demonstrate that reaching the conformal limit in agreement with the predictions of perturbative QCD is provided by the proper momentum dependence of the thickness of the hadron shell in momentum space. We employ the flexible meta-modeling approach to nuclear matter, analyzing the structure of the hadron shell in momentum space and focusing on the effects of color superconductivity in quarkyonic matter. Similar to the effects induced by the onset of the quarkyonic phase, color superconductivity leads to stiffening of the equation of state of the NS matter. This causes a significant impact on observable properties of neutron stars, which are analyzed and compared to recent astrophysical and theoretical constraints. We argue that the developed model of color-superconducting quarkyonic matter provides a new, consistent tool for studying the scenario of smooth quark-hadron transition in NSs.

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arXiv2025

Bayesian inference favors quark matter in neutron star interiors

We perform a physics-informed Bayesian analyses of the equation of state of hybrid neutron stars that incorporates color-flavor-locked quark matter modeled by a three-flavor non-local Nambu-Jona-Lasinio framework with vector repulsion and diquark pairing. Contrary to the model-agnostic Bayesian analyses our scheme allows for distinguishing between the scenarios of neutron stars with quark cores and without them. The used quark model realizes asymptotic conformality at high densities in accordance with perturbative QCD. The hadronic sector is described by the density-dependent relativistic functional DD2Y-T, which satisfies chiral effective field theory constraints and includes hyperonic degrees of freedom. We construct a large set of candidate hybrid EOSs by varying the vector and diquark couplings and apply a Maxwell construction for the quark-hadron phase transition. Observational constraints from recent NICER pulsar mass-radius measurements and tidal deformability from GW170817 are incorporated into the likelihood. Depending on whether the observational data from the black widow pulsar PSR J0952-0607 and the HESS J1731-347 object are included to the analysis or not, the posterior distribution favors vector and diquark couplings around $(\eta_V,\eta_D)\simeq (0.82,0.40)$ or $(\eta_V,\eta_D)\simeq (0.64,0.36)$, respectively. This corresponds to equations of state that support two-solar-mass neutron stars with superconformal speed of sound and relatively low onset densities for deconfinement. Our findings indicate that the most probable hybrid EOSs are statistically preferred over the purely hadronic baseline. The corresponding probabilities of agreeing with the observational data differ by one or two orders of magnitude depending on the data set used. This suggests that quark cores may exist in all observed neutron stars.

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arXiv2025

Generalized Beth-Uhlenbeck approach to the thermodynamics of quark-hadron matter

We present a unified approach to the transition from hadronic matter to quark matter where hadrons are treated as bound states of quarks which dissociate at high densities due to quark Pauli blocking. The newly developed approach makes use of a cluster virial expansion formulated in terms of a generalized $\Phi$-derivable approach to multi-quark correlations with bound and continuum states in their spectrum encoded in hadron phase shifts. Our model can be used to obtain thermodynamic functions not only at zero and small chemical potentials, where they are consistent with lattice QCD simulations, but also at large chemical potentials where lattice QCD simulations have the sign problem. By applying a reaction-kinetic criterion for the chemical freeze-out of multi-quark clusters in heavy-ion collisions, we demonstrate that the chemical freeze-out coincides with their Mott transition. The approach can be applied to study the effects of the QCD transition on primordial black hole formation in the early Universe and on hybrid neutron star formation in supernova explosions and binary neutron star mergers.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Speed of sound of QCD matter at chiral crossover

Based on a generalized Beth-Uhlenbeck approach to thermodynamics of QCD motivated by cluster decomposition we present a unified equation of state of hot strongly interacting matter and analyze its properties in a wide range of temperatures. The hadrons are treated as color singlet multiquark clusters in medium with a background gluon field in the Polyakov gauge. The confining aspect of QCD is accounted for by the Polyakov loop mechanism and by a large vacuum quark mass motivated by a confining density functional approach. We demonstrate that an abrupt switching between hadronic and partonic degrees of freedom, which is one of striking manifestations of dynamical restoration of chiral symmetry, is accompanied by a smooth behavior of entropy density at chiral crossover. Individual contributions of different components of strongly interacting matter to its speed of sound are analyzed for the first time. It is shown that restoration of chiral symmetry drives speed of sound of hadron gas to negative values, manifesting its mechanical instability and being in a strike disagreements with the lattice QCD data. Accounting for the partonic excitations naturally resolves this contradiction.

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arXiv2025

Quarkyonic picture of isospin QCD

We suggest a new look onto the thermodynamics of cold isospin QCD matter described within the quarkyonic framework, when confining forces are essential only for the momentum states close to the Fermi sphere and lead to formation of the quark-antiquark correlations with quantum numbers of pions. Within this picture cold isospin QCD matter is constituted by the Bose-Einstein condensate of pions and free (anti)quarks. We develop a simple confining model of pions existing as the lowest energy $P$-state of in-medium three-dimensional harmonic oscillator and use it to show that under the conditions of isospin QCD quarkyonic matter can onset at densities significantly smaller than the overlap density of pions. Using the experimentally established pion charge radius we demonstrate that the onset density can be even lower than two nuclear saturation densities. To analyze the lattice QCD data we develop a field-theory inspired model of quark-antiquark-pion matter with vector-isovector repulsion among pions and (anti)quarks. The quark substructure of pions, which is one of the key elements of the model, is accounted for within the one-loop no-sea approximation and leads to an effective medium dependence of the pion mass. The latter is shown to be crucial for providing asymptotic vanishing of the pion density and pion condensate, which reflects pion dissociation due to asymptotic freedom of QCD. The proposed quarkyonic picture of isospin QCD agrees with the results of perturbative calculations on reaching the conformal limit of QCD and with the data of lattice simulations, which supports its viability and physical relevance.

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arXiv2024

Fastest spinning millisecond pulsars: indicators for quark matter in neutron stars?

We study rotating hybrid stars, with a particular emphasis on the effect of a deconfinement phase transition on their properties at high spin. Our analysis is based on a hybrid equation of state (EoS) with a phase transition from hypernuclear matter to color-superconducting quark matter, where both phases are described within a relativistic density functional approach. By varying the vector meson and diquark couplings in the quark matter phase, we obtain different hybrid star sequences with varying extension of the quark matter core, ensuring consistency with astrophysical constraints from mass, radius and tidal deformability measurements. As a result, we demonstrate the impact of an increasing rotational frequency on the maximum gravitational mass, the central energy density of compact stars, the appearance of the quasi-radial oscillations and non-axisymmetric instabilities. We demonstrate that for the most favorable parameter sets with a strong vector coupling, hybrid star configurations with color superconducting quark matter core can describe the fastest spinning and heaviest galactic neutron star (NS) J0952-0607, while it is out of reach for the purely hadronic hypernuclear star configuration. We also revise the previously proposed empirical relation between the Kepler frequency, gravitational mass, and radius of non-rotating NSs, obtained based on the assumption that all NSs, up to the heaviest, are hadronic. We show how the phase transition to quark matter alters this relation and, consequently, the constraints on the dense matter EoS. Our findings reveal that incorporating the hybrid EoS has significant implications for the constraints on the properties of strongly interacting matter and NSs, placing the upper limit on $R_{1.4} \leq 14.90$ km and $R_{0.7}<11.49$ km (considering 716 Hz frequency limit from J1748+2446ad) and $R_{1.4}\leq$11.90~km (for 1000 Hz).

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arXiv2024

Asymptotically conformal CFL quark matter within a nonlocal chiral quark model

We propose a three-flavor nonlocal NJL model of quark matter with the scalar attractive, vector repulsive and diquark pairing interaction channels. The model is treated within the separable approximation to obtain the EoS of cold quark matter. The analysis of the high density asymptotics of the model allows us to conclude about its qualitative agreement with the perturbative QCD. Particularly, a color superconducting CFL state is found to be the ground one at high densities. The conformal limit of speed of sound and dimensionless interaction measure are also shown to be reached from below and above, respectively. The model is applied to modelling NSs within the scenario of early quark deconfinement triggered by the gravitational instability of the NS matter due to the BEC of a spin-color-flavor singlet three-diquark bound state, the light sexaquark, stable against the weak and strong decays. A conservative estimate of the sexaquark mass based on the most up-to-date results from QCD sum rules and a constituent quark model assumes an early quark deconfinement with the onset mass below $1~\rm M_\odot$. The scenario is shown to be consistent with the present observational constraints on the mass-radius relation and tidal deformability of NSs. Given the fact that the proposed model by construction exhibits an asymptotically conformal behavior, we consider the question about approximately conformal quark matter in NSs. We report a non-perturbative energy density range, which is inaccessible in NSs and where the speed of sound and dimensionless interaction measure of the CFL quark matter simultaneously attain the conformal values.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Rapid neutron star cooling triggered by dark matter

We study the effect of asymmetric fermionic dark matter (DM) on the thermal evolution of neutron stars (NSs). No interaction between DM and baryonic matter is assumed, except the gravitational one. Using the two-fluid formalism, we show that DM accumulated in the core of a star pulls inwards the outer baryonic layers of the star, increasing the baryonic density in the NS core. As a result, it significantly affects the star's thermal evolution by triggering an early onset of the direct Urca process and modifying the photon emission from the surface caused by the decrease of the radius. Thus, due to the gravitational pull of DM, the direct Urca process becomes kinematically allowed for stars with lower masses. Based on these results, we discuss the importance of NS observations at different distances from the Galactic center. Since the DM distribution peaks towards the Galactic center, NSs in this region are expected to contain higher DM fractions that could lead to a different cooling behavior.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

The impact of asymmetric dark matter on the thermal evolution of nucleonic and hyperonic compact stars

We investigate the impact of asymmetric fermionic dark matter (DM) on the thermal evolution of neutron stars (NSs), considering a scenario where DM interacts with baryonic matter (BM) through gravity. Employing the two-fluid formalism, our analysis reveals that DM accrued within the NS core exerts an inward gravitational pull on the outer layers composed of BM. This gravitational interaction results in a noticeable increase in baryonic density within the core of the NS. Consequently, it strongly affects the star's thermal evolution by triggering an early onset of the direct Urca (DU) processes, causing an enhanced neutrino emission and rapid star cooling. Moreover, the photon emission from the star's surface is modified due to a reduction of radius. We demonstrate the effect of DM gravitational pull on nucleonic and hyperonic DU processes that become kinematically allowed even for NSs of low mass. We then discuss the significance of observing NSs at various distances from the Galactic center. Given that the DM distribution peaks toward the Galactic center, NSs within this central region are expected to harbor higher fractions of DM, potentially leading to distinct cooling behaviors.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Hybrid star phenomenology from the properties of the special point

We study the properties of hybrid stars containing a color superconducting quark matter phase in their cores, which is described by the chirally symmetric formulation of the confining relativistic density functional approach. It is shown that depending on the dimensionless vector and diquark couplings of quark matter, the characteristics of the deconfinement phase transition are varied, allowing us to study the relation between those characteristics and mass-radius relations of hybrid stars. Moreover, we show that the quark matter equation of state (EoS) can be nicely fitted by the Alford-Braby-Paris-Reddy model that gives a simple functional dependence between the most important parameters of the EoS and microscopic parameters of the initial Lagrangian. Based on it, we analyze the special points of the mass-radius diagram in which several mass-radius curves intersect. Using the found empirical relation between the mass of the special point, the maximum mass of the mass-radius curve, and the onset mass of quark deconfinement, we constrain the range of values of the vector and diquark couplings of the quark matter model. With this constraint, we construct a family of mass-radius curves, which allow us to describe the black widow pulsar PSR J0952-0607 with a mass of $2.35\pm 0.17~\rm M_\odot$ as a hybrid star with a color superconducting quark matter core.

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arXiv2023

What is the nature of the HESS J1731-347 compact object?

Once further confirmed in future analyses, the radius and mass measurement of HESS J1731-347 with $M=0.77^{+0.20}_{-0.17}~M_{\odot}$ and $R=10.4^{+0.86}_{-0.78}~\rm km$ will be among the lightest and smallest compact objects ever detected. This raises many questions about its nature and opens up the window for different theories to explain such a measurement. In this article, we use the information from Doroshenko et al. (2022) on the mass, radius, and surface temperature together with the multimessenger observations of neutron stars to investigate the possibility that HESS J1731-347 is one of the lightest observed neutron star, a strange quark star, a hybrid star with an early deconfinement phase transition, or a dark matter-admixed neutron star. The nucleonic and quark matter are modeled within realistic equation of states (EOSs) with a self-consistent calculation of the pairing gaps in quark matter. By performing the joint analysis of the thermal evolution and mass-radius constraint, we find evidence that within a 1$σ$ confidence level, HESS J1731-347 is consistent with the neutron star scenario with the soft EOS as well as with a strange and hybrid star with the early deconfinement phase transition with a strong quark pairing and neutron star admixed with dark matter.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

The effects of self-interacting bosonic dark matter on neutron star properties

We propose a model of asymmetric bosonic dark matter (DM) with self-repulsion mediated by the vector field coupled to the complex scalar particles. By adopting the two-fluid formalism, we study different DM distribution regimes, either, fully condensed inside the core of a star or, otherwise, distributed in a dilute halo around a neutron star (NS). We show that DM condensed in a core leads to a decrease of the total gravitational mass, radius and tidal deformability compared to a pure baryonic star with the same central density, which we will perceive as an effective softening of the equation of state (EoS). On the other hand, the presence of a DM halo increases the tidal deformability and total gravitational mass. As a result, an accumulated DM inside compact stars could mimic an apparent stiffening of strongly interacting matter equation of state and constraints we impose on it at high densities. From the performed analysis of the effect of DM particles in a MeV-GeV mass-scale, interaction strength, and relative DM fractions inside NSs we obtained a rigorous constraint on model parameters. Finally, we discuss several smoking guns of the presence of DM that are free from the above mentioned apparent modification of the strongly interacting matter equation of state. With this we could be probed with the future astrophysical and gravitational wave (GW) surveys.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Effect of color superconductivity on the mass of hybrid neutron stars in an effective model with pQCD asymptotics

The effective cold quark matter model by Alford, Braby, Paris and Reddy (ABPR) is used as a tool for discussing the effect of the size of the pairing gap in three-flavor (CFL) quark matter on the maximum mass of hybrid neutron stars (NSs). This equation of state (EOS) has three parameters which we suggest to determine by comparison with a nonlocal NJL model of quark matter in the nonperturbative domain. We show that due to the momentum dependence of the pairing which is induced by the nonlocality of the interaction, the effective gap parameter in the EOS model is well approximated by a constant value depending on the diquark coupling strength in the NJL model Lagrangian. For the parameter $a_4=1-2α_s/π$ a constant value below about \num{0.4} is needed to explain hybrid stars with ${\rm M}_{\rm max} \gtrsim 2.0~{\rm M}_\odot$, which would translate to an effective constant $α_s\sim 1$. The matching point with a running coupling at the 1-loop $β$ function level is found to lie outside the range of chemical potentials accessible in NS interiors. A dictionary is provided for translating the free parameters of the nlNJL model to those of the ABPR model. Both models are shown to be equivalent in the nonperturbative domain but the latter one allows to quantify the transition to the asymptotic behaviour in accordance with perturbative QCD. We provide constraints on parameter sets that fulfill the $2~{\rm M}_\odot$ mass constraint for hybrid NSs, as well as the low tidal deformability constraint from GW170817 by a softening of the EOS on the hybrid NS branch with an early onset of deconfinement at ${\rm M}_{\rm onset}<1.4~{\rm M}_\odot$. We find that the effective constant pairing gap should be around 100 MeV but not exceed values of about 130 MeV because a further increase of the gap would entail a softening of the EOS and contradict the $2~{\rm M}_\odot$ mass constraint.

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arXiv2022

Recovering the conformal limit of color superconducting quark matter within a confining density functional approach

We generalize a recently proposed confining relativistic density-functional approach to the case of density dependent vector and diquark couplings. The particular behavior of these couplings is motivated by the non-perturbative gluon exchange in dense quark matter and provides the conformal limit at asymptotically high densities. We demonstrate that this feature of the quark matter EoS is consistent with a significant stiffness in the density range typical for the interiors of neutron stars. In order to model these astrophysical objects we construct a family of hybrid quark-hadron EoSs of cold stellar matter. We also confront our approach with the observational constraints on the mass-radius relation of neutron stars and their tidal deformabilities and argue in favor of a quark matter onset at masses below $1.0~{\rm M}_\odot$

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