The Macro-Physics of the Quark-Nova: Astrophysical Implications

A quark-nova is a hypothetical stellar evolution branch where a neutron star converts explosively into a quark star. Here, we discuss the intimate coupling between the micro-physics and macro-physics of the quark-nova and provide a prescription for how to couple the Burn-UD code to the stellar evolu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rachid Ouyed
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-06-01
Series:Universe
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/8/6/322
Description
Summary:A quark-nova is a hypothetical stellar evolution branch where a neutron star converts explosively into a quark star. Here, we discuss the intimate coupling between the micro-physics and macro-physics of the quark-nova and provide a prescription for how to couple the Burn-UD code to the stellar evolution code in order to simulate neutron-star-to-quark-star burning at stellar scales and estimate the resulting energy release and ejecta. Once formed, the thermal evolution of the proto-quark star follows. We found much higher peak neutrino luminosities (>10<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msup><mrow></mrow><mn>55</mn></msup></semantics></math></inline-formula> erg/s) and a higher energy neutrino (i.e., harder) spectrum than previous stellar evolution studies of proto-neutron stars. We derived the neutrino counts that observatories such as Super-Kamiokande-III and Halo-II should expect and suggest how these can differentiate between a supernova and a quark-nova. Due to the high peak neutrino luminosities, neutrino pair annihilation can deposit as much as <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msup><mn>10</mn><mn>52</mn></msup></semantics></math></inline-formula> ergs in kinetic energy in the matter overlaying the neutrinosphere, yielding relativistic quark-nova ejecta. We show how the quark-nova could help us understand many still enigmatic high-energy astrophysical transients, such as super-luminous supernovae, gamma-ray bursts and fast radio bursts.
ISSN:2218-1997