The quark star (QS) is a hypothetical and yet undiscovered stellar object, and its existence would mark a paradigm shift in research on nuclear and quark matter. Although compactness is a well-known signature for distinguishing between two branches of QSs and neutron stars (NSs), some QSs can overlap with NSs in the radius-mass plane. To manifest their evident differences, we investigate the tidal properties of QSs and NSs. We then find that the magnetic-type Love number is a robust indicator for differentiating between QSs and NSs, whereas the electric-type one is insufficient when QSs and NSs have similar masses and radii. Finally, we show that gravitational waves from binary star mergers can, in principle, be sensitive to differences between QSs and NSs.

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• Equations of state of nuclear matter
• Gravitational waves
• Quark matter
• Neutron stars & pulsars