Weighing massive neutron star with screening gravity: a look on PSR J0740 + 6620 and GW190814 secondary component

Neutron stars (NSs) are excellent natural laboratories to constrain gravity on strong field regime and nuclear matter in extreme conditions. Motivated by the recent discovery of a compact object with $$2.59^{+0.08}_{-0.09} M_\odot $$ 2 . 59 - 0.09 + 0.08 M ⊙ in the binary merger GW190814, if this object was a NS, it serves as a strong constraint on the NS equation of state (EoS), ruling out several soft EoSs favored by GW170817 event. In this work, we revisit the question of the maximum mass of NSs considering a chameleon screening (thin-shell effect) on the NS mass-radius relation, where the microscopic physics inside the NS is given by realistic soft EoSs. We find that from appropriate and reasonable combination of modified gravity, rotation effects and realistic soft EoSs, that it is possible to achieve high masses and explain GW190814 secondary component, and in return also NSs like PSR J0740 + 6620 (the most NS massive confirmed to date). It is shown that gravity can play an important role in estimating maximum mass of NSs, and even with soft EoSs, it is possible to generate very high masses. Therefore, in this competition of hydrostatic equilibrium between gravity and pressure (from EoS choice), some soft EoSs, in principle, cannot be completely ruled out without first taking into account gravitational effects.

Nucleonic Direct Urca Processes and Cooling of the Massive Neutron Star by Antikaon Condensations

Nucleonic direct Urca processes and cooling of the massive neutron stars are studied by considering antikaon condensations. Calculations are performed in the relativistic mean field and isothermal interior approximations. Neutrino energy losses of the nucleonic direct Urca processes are reduced when the optical potential of antikaons changes from − 80 to − 130 MeV. If the center density of the massive neutron stars is a constant, the masses taper off with the optical potential of antikaons, and neutrino luminosities of the nucleonic direct Urca processes decrease for ρ CN = 0.5 fm − 3 but first increase and then decrease for larger ρ CN . Large optical potential of antikaons results in warming of the nonsuperfluid massive neutron stars. Massive neutron stars turn warmer with the protonic S 0 1 superfluids. However, the decline of the critical temperatures of the protonic S 0 1 superfluids for the large optical potential of antikaons can speed up the cooling of the massive neutron stars.

A lower bound on the maximum mass if the secondary in GW190814 was once a rapidly spinning neutron star

ABSTRACT The recent detection of GW190814 featured the merger of a binary with a primary having a mass of $\sim 23\, \mathrm{ M}_{\odot }$ and a secondary with a mass of $\sim 2.6\, \mathrm{ M}_{\odot }$. While the primary was most likely a black hole, the secondary could be interpreted as either the lightest black hole or the most massive neutron star ever observed, but also as the indication of a novel class of exotic compact objects. We here argue that although the secondary in GW190814 is most likely a black hole at merger, it needs not be an ab-initio black hole nor an exotic object. Rather, based on our current understanding of the nuclear-matter equation of state, it can be a rapidly rotating neutron star that collapsed to a rotating black hole at some point before merger. Using universal relations connecting the masses and spins of uniformly rotating neutron stars, we estimate the spin, $0.49_{-0.05}^{+0.08} \lesssim \chi \lesssim 0.68_{-0.05}^{+0.11}$, of the secondary – a quantity not constrained so far by the detection – and a novel strict lower bound on the maximum mass, $M_{_{\mathrm{TOV}}}\gt 2.08^{+0.04}_{-0.04}\, \, \mathrm{ M}_{\odot }$ and an optimal bound of $M_{_{\mathrm{TOV}}}\gt 2.15^{+0.04}_{-0.04}\, \, \mathrm{ M}_{\odot }$, of non-rotating neutron stars, consistent with recent observations of a very massive pulsar. The new lower bound also remains valid even in the less likely scenario in which the secondary neutron star never collapsed to a black hole.

Binary evolution leading to the formation of the very massive neutron star in the J0740+6620 binary system

ABSTRACT We study the evolution of close binary systems in order to account for the existence of the recently observed binary system containing the most massive millisecond pulsar ever detected, PSR J0740+6620, and its ultra-cool helium white dwarf companion. In order to find a progenitor for this object we compute the evolution of several binary systems composed by a neutron star and a normal donor star employing our stellar code. We assume conservative mass transfer. We also explore the effects of irradiation feedback on the system. We find that irradiated models also provide adequate models for the millisecond pulsar and its companion, so both irradiated and non irradiated systems are good progenitors for PSR J0740+6620. Finally, we obtain a binary system that evolves and accounts for the observational data of the system composed by PSR J0740+6620 (i.e. orbital period, mass, effective temperature and inferred metallicity of the companion, and mass of the neutron star) in a time scale smaller than the age of the Universe. In order to reach an effective temperature as low as observed, the donor star should have an helium envelope as demanded by observations.

Collimated outflows from long-lived binary neutron star merger remnants

ABSTRACT The connection between short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) and binary neutron star (BNS) mergers was recently confirmed by the association of GRB 170817A with the merger event GW170817. However, no conclusive indications were obtained on whether the merger remnant that powered the SGRB jet was an accreting black hole (BH) or a long-lived massive neutron star (NS). Here, we explore the latter case via BNS merger simulations covering up to 250 ms after merger. We report, for the first time in a full merger simulation, the formation of a magnetically driven collimated outflow along the spin axis of the NS remnant. For the system at hand, the properties of such an outflow are found largely incompatible with an SGRB jet. With due consideration of the limitations and caveats of our present investigation, our results favour a BH origin for GRB 170817A and SGRBs in general. Even though this conclusion needs to be confirmed by exploring a larger variety of physical conditions, we briefly discuss possible consequences of all SGRB jets being powered by accreting BHs.

Jeans analysis in energy–momentum-squared gravity

In this paper, we study the Jeans analysis in the context of energy–momentum-squared gravity (EMSG). More specifically we find the new Jeans mass for non-rotating infinite mediums as the smallest mass scale for local perturbations that can be stable against its own gravity. Furthermore, for rotating mediums, specifically for rotating thin disks in the context of EMSG, we find a new Toomre-like criterion for the local gravitational stability. Finally, the results are applied to a hyper-massive neutron star, as an astrophysical system. Using a simplified toy model we have shown that, for a positive (negative) value of the EMSG parameter $$\alpha $$α, the system is stable (unstable) in a wide range of $$\alpha $$α. On the other hand, no observational evidence has been reported on the existence of local fragmentation in HMNS. Naturally, this means that EMSG with positive $$\alpha $$α is more acceptable from the physical point of view.