Heavy neutron stars from light scalars

We study how light scalar fields can change the stellar landscape by triggering a new phase of nuclear matter. Scalars coupled to nucleons can develop a non-trivial expectation value at finite baryon density. This sourcing of a scalar reduces the nucleon mass and provides an additional energy densit...

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Autores: Balkin, R., Serra, J., Springmann, K., Stelzl, S., Weiler, A.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:digitalcsic_::5a736e9bdc4c2bf3311a976458e86e28
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/427963
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-86000004693&doi=10.1007%2FJHEP02%282025%29141&partnerID=40&md5=1d9d769a7c703b3fde32d2d8612a657f
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Axions and ALPs
Finite Temperature or Finite Density
New Light Particles
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spelling Heavy neutron stars from light scalarsBalkin, R.Serra, J.Springmann, K.Stelzl, S.Weiler, A.Axions and ALPsFinite Temperature or Finite DensityNew Light ParticlesWe study how light scalar fields can change the stellar landscape by triggering a new phase of nuclear matter. Scalars coupled to nucleons can develop a non-trivial expectation value at finite baryon density. This sourcing of a scalar reduces the nucleon mass and provides an additional energy density and pressure source. Under generic conditions, a new ground state of nuclear matter emerges, with striking implications for the configuration of stellar remnants. Notably, neutron stars in the new ground state can be significantly heavier than QCD equations of state currently predict. We also find hybrid stellar compositions and stable self-bound objects with sizes as small as the Compton wavelength of the scalar. We discuss several specific realizations of this scenario: the QCD axion and lighter generalizations thereof and linearly or quadratically coupled scalar fields effectively equivalent to a class of scalar-tensor modification of gravity. Lastly, we explore phenomenological signatures relevant to electromagnetic and gravitational wave observations of neutron stars, such as atypical compactness and instability gaps in radii. © The Author(s) 2025.The work of JS, KS, SS, and AW has been partially supported by the Collaborative Research Center SFB1258, the Munich Institute for Astro- and Particle Physics (MIAPP), and by the Excellence Cluster ORIGINS, which is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy — EXC-2094-390783311. The work of JS is supported by the grant RYC-2020-028992-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ESF Investing in your future”. JS also acknowledges the support of the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigacion through the grant “IFT Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa CEX2020-001007-S”. The work of SS is additionally supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation under contract 200020-18867. The work of RB is supported by grants from the NSF-BSF (No. 2018683), the ISF (No. 482/20), the BSF (No. 2020300), and by the Azrieli Foundation.Peer reviewedSpringer NatureMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]202620262025info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501Publisher's versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://hdl.handle.net/10261/427963https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-86000004693&doi=10.1007%2FJHEP02%282025%29141&partnerID=40&md5=1d9d769a7c703b3fde32d2d8612a657freponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)InglésJournal of High Energy Physicshttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/JHEP02(2025)141Síinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:dnet:digitalcsic_::5a736e9bdc4c2bf3311a976458e86e282026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Heavy neutron stars from light scalars
title Heavy neutron stars from light scalars
spellingShingle Heavy neutron stars from light scalars
Balkin, R.
Axions and ALPs
Finite Temperature or Finite Density
New Light Particles
title_short Heavy neutron stars from light scalars
title_full Heavy neutron stars from light scalars
title_fullStr Heavy neutron stars from light scalars
title_full_unstemmed Heavy neutron stars from light scalars
title_sort Heavy neutron stars from light scalars
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Balkin, R.
Serra, J.
Springmann, K.
Stelzl, S.
Weiler, A.
author Balkin, R.
author_facet Balkin, R.
Serra, J.
Springmann, K.
Stelzl, S.
Weiler, A.
author_role author
author2 Serra, J.
Springmann, K.
Stelzl, S.
Weiler, A.
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Axions and ALPs
Finite Temperature or Finite Density
New Light Particles
topic Axions and ALPs
Finite Temperature or Finite Density
New Light Particles
description We study how light scalar fields can change the stellar landscape by triggering a new phase of nuclear matter. Scalars coupled to nucleons can develop a non-trivial expectation value at finite baryon density. This sourcing of a scalar reduces the nucleon mass and provides an additional energy density and pressure source. Under generic conditions, a new ground state of nuclear matter emerges, with striking implications for the configuration of stellar remnants. Notably, neutron stars in the new ground state can be significantly heavier than QCD equations of state currently predict. We also find hybrid stellar compositions and stable self-bound objects with sizes as small as the Compton wavelength of the scalar. We discuss several specific realizations of this scenario: the QCD axion and lighter generalizations thereof and linearly or quadratically coupled scalar fields effectively equivalent to a class of scalar-tensor modification of gravity. Lastly, we explore phenomenological signatures relevant to electromagnetic and gravitational wave observations of neutron stars, such as atypical compactness and instability gaps in radii. © The Author(s) 2025.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2026
2026
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
Publisher's version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10261/427963
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-86000004693&doi=10.1007%2FJHEP02%282025%29141&partnerID=40&md5=1d9d769a7c703b3fde32d2d8612a657f
url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/427963
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-86000004693&doi=10.1007%2FJHEP02%282025%29141&partnerID=40&md5=1d9d769a7c703b3fde32d2d8612a657f
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Journal of High Energy Physics
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/JHEP02(2025)141
Sí
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer Nature
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer Nature
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
reponame_str DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
collection DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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