Speaker
Description
A recent analysis on the central compact object within HESS J1731-347 suggested unique mass and radius properties, rendering it a promising candidate for a self-bound star. In this present study, we examine the capability of quark stars composed of color-flavor locked quark matter to explain the latter object by using its marginalized posterior distribution and imposing it as a constraint on the relevant parameter space. The latter space is further confined due to the additional requirement for a high maximum mass ($M_{TOV}$≥2.6 $M_⊙$), accounting for GW190814’s secondary companion. Critical emphasis is placed on the speed of sound and the trace anomaly which was proposed as a measure of conformality [Y. Fujimoto et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 252702 (2022).]. We conclude that color-flavor locked quark stars can reach high masses without violating the conformal or the $〈Θ〉_{μ_Β }≥0$ bound ( $〈Θ〉_{μ_B}$ being the non-normalized trace anomaly at vanishing temperatures), provided that the quartic coefficient $α_4$ (a crucial parameter accounting for pQCD corrections in the matter's thermodynamic potential) does not exceed an upper limit which depends on the established $M_{TOV}$. For $M_{TOV}$=$2.6 M_⊙$, we find that the limit reads $α_4≤0.594$. Lastly, a final investigation takes place on the agreement of color-flavor locked quark stars with additional astrophysical objects including the GW170817 and GW190425 events, followed by some concluding remarks.
