Vanishing compactness gap and fermionic compact dark matter in Hořava-Lifshitz gravity
Phys. Rev. D 113, 104014 – Published 8 May, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/zcwn-hq7g
Abstract
We show that the compactness gap between black holes and neutron stars witnessed in general relativity can disappear in Hořava-Lifshitz (HL) gravity. Assuming a fermionic equation-of-state and solving the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equation within the HL gravity framework, we find that there exists a minimum fermion mass , above which the gap of the compactness between black hole and fermionic compact object vanishes, for a given deformation parameter of HL and interaction strength between fermions. Thus, in HL gravity, the mass and radius of an object found in the lower mass gap by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observations might not be able to classify it as a black hole or a neutron star. It is interesting to note that a fermion of mass can form a highly compact object of mass and radius . Such configurations may be regarded as speculative candidates for a subcomponent of cold dark matter. In addition, we find evidence for the existence of another class of compact objects whose compactness approaches that of black holes.