- Accepted Paper
Observable signatures of a quarkyonic phase in neutron stars
Phys. Rev. D - Accepted 28 October, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/1r5b-x7mv
Phys. Rev. D - Accepted 28 October, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/1r5b-x7mv
Quarkyonic matter in ()-equilibrium is a potential description of cold dense matter in neutron stars (NSs), that introduces non-interacting quarks alongside nucleons and leptons in NS cores. In this paper, we impose observational and theoretical constraints on the model to perform Bayesian inference on it, and find that it is possible to have quarkyonic matter equations of state that satisfy all current astrophysical observations, thereby reinforcing the argument for its use alongside traditional ones. To differentiate between NSs where a quarkyonic phase does and does not appear in the core, we identify some novel signatures based on the mass-radius relation. Focusing on canonical ((1.4 )) NSs, we find the populations of NSs with and without quarkyonic cores show separability on the basis of the slope and curvatures of the mass-radius curve, the central sound speed of the star, and the radius difference between two NSs of (2 ) and (1.4 ). We find promising results which show that these signatures can prove useful in the detection of quarks in the NS cores.
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