arXiv2026
We study static, spherically symmetric stellar configurations in an extended class of Energy--Momentum Squared Gravity using the covariant \(1+1+2\) semi-tetrad formalism. For perfect physical fluids, we show that the nonlinear matter corrections can be reinterpreted as an effective perfect fluid, so that the stellar equilibrium equations retain the standard Tolman--Oppenheimer--Volkoff form when written in terms of effective variables. The resulting covariant structure equations are formulated in both metric and dimensionless variables and, whenever an effective closure relation exists, reduce to an autonomous planar dynamical system. This provides a global qualitative description of the stellar phase space in terms of finite and asymptotic critical points. Specializing to linear physical equations of state, we recover the general relativistic benchmark and identify sectors that are exactly, asymptotically, or piecewise equivalent to general relativity, as well as sectors -- particularly dust configurations -- for which the planar reduction breaks down and the full three-dimensional covariant flow must be considered. We further recover the standard metric Tolman--Oppenheimer--Volkoff equation in terms of effective variables and show that, although the exterior spacetime remains Schwarzschild, the natural matching condition at the stellar surface is \(p_{\rm eff}(R)=0\), which need not coincide with \(p(R)=0\) for self-bound matter.