Tracing the trace anomaly of dense matter inside neutron stars
Phys. Rev. D 113, 123012 – Published 4 June, 2026Erratum Phys. Rev. D 114, 069901 (2026)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/pwyy-s8wj
Abstract
The trace anomaly is an important quantity that measures the broken conformal symmetry in neutron star matter. In this work, we present quasiuniversal relations that connect the stellar profile of to the compactness, moment of inertia, and tidal deformability of neutron stars. We apply the quasiuniversal relations to determine the trace anomaly profiles for PSR and PSR based on their mass-radius measurements. We also analyze PSR J0737-3039A according to its moment of inertia inferred from Bayesian modeling of nuclear equation of state. A recent multimessenger constraint on the tidal deformability is also studied, resulting in an estimate value of the trace anomaly at the center of a canonical neutron star. It is expected that more precise observations from both electromagnetic and gravitational-wave channels in the future will provide tighter constraints on the behavior of inside neutron stars.