2023/06/29 by Daniela D. Doneva, Doneva, Daniela D., C. Krüger +5 · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #FOS: Physical sciences #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2306.16988
openalex publication_date 2023/06/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
It was recently discovered that scalarized neutron stars in scalar-tensor theories can undergo a gravitational phase transition to a non-scalarized (GR) state. Surprisingly, even though the driving mechanism is totally different, the process resembles closely the first-order matter phase transition from confined nuclear matter to deconfined quark matter in neutron star cores. The studies until now were limited, though, to only one theory of gravity and a limited range of parameters. With the present paper, we aim at demonstrating that gravitational phase transitions are more common than expected. More specifically, we show that the phenomenon of nonlinear scalarization is present for neutron stars in Gauss-Bonnet gravity leading to the possibility of gravitational phase transition. Moreover, it can be observed for a wide range of parameters so no fine-tuning is needed. This solidifies the conjecture that gravitational phase transitions are an important phenomenon for compact objects and their astrophysical implications deserve an in-depth study.