Open AccessThe phase transition from nuclear matter to quark matter during proto‐neutron star evolution
Author(s) -
Benvenuto O. G.,
Lugones G.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.1999.02458.x
Subject(s) - physics , strange matter , neutron star , supernova , neutrino , nuclear physics , quark star , nuclear matter , particle physics , phase transition , equation of state , deconfinement , quark , astrophysics , nucleon , quantum mechanics
We explore the occurrence of a phase transition from nuclear matter to quark matter in proto‐neutron stars. To this end, we employ recent results on such a phase transition in the presence of an electron‐‐neutrino‐‐degenerate gas, based on a mean field model nuclear equation of state together with a quark matter equation of state as described by the MIT `bag model'. Those results show that this neutrino gas does not favour the transition. By comparison with the proto‐neutron star evolutionary calculations of Keil & Janka, we find that, if the bag constant B has a value B ≤ 126 MeV fm ‐3 , the deconfinement transition indeed occurs. We also find that, if B ≥ 100 MeV fm ‐3 , the phase transition is delayed by the presence of neutrinos by a few seconds after core bounce, thus providing a natural explanation for the second peak of neutrino emission detected in SN 1987A by the Kamiokande Group. The transition to quark matter and its subsequent decay should affect proto‐neutron star evolution and supernova explosions in a non‐trivial way.