Paper detail

Observable Signatures of a Quarkyonic Phase in Neutron Stars

Performing Bayesian inference on quarkyonic equation-of-state models for neutron star matter, we find they satisfy all current astrophysical observations, thus reinforcing the argument for the use of such neutron star matter equation-of-state models alongside traditional ones. To observationally differentiate between stars with and without a quarkyonic phase, we identify a novel observational signature: the slope of the mass-radius relation at some fixed mass in conjunction with the sound speed at the star's center. In this plane, we find quarkyonic stars in a region with high central sound speed and positive slope, that is distinct from purely nucleonic stars. High accuracy NS radii measurements facilitated by the next generation of detectors, coupled with ongoing studies of mapping astrophysical observables to microphysical properties like sound speed can be used for testing this signature. Our results indicate that a neutron star with these properties would be a strong evidence for existence of a quarkyonic phase or a similar crossover transition in its core.