Constructing neutron stars with a gravitational Higgs mechanism

Franchini, Nicola; Coates, Andrew; Sotiriou, Thomas P.

Abstract

In scalar-tensor theories, spontaneous scalarization is a phase transition that can occur in ultradense environments such as neutron stars. The scalar field develops a non-trivial configuration once the stars exceeds a compactness threshold. We recently pointed out that, if the scalar exhibits some additional coupling to matter, it could give rise to significantly different microphysics in these environments. In this work we study, at the non-perturbative level, a toy model in which the photon is given a large mass when spontaneous scalarization occurs. Our results demonstrate clearly the effectiveness of spontaneous scalarization as a Higgs-like mechanism in neutron stars.

Citation

Franchini, N., Coates, A., & Sotiriou, T. P. (2018). Constructing neutron stars with a gravitational Higgs mechanism. Physical Review D, 97(6), https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.97.064013

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 22, 2018
• Publication Date: Mar 15, 2018
• Deposit Date: Apr 12, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 12, 2018
• Journal: Physical Review D
• Print ISSN: 2470-0010
• Electronic ISSN: 2470-0010
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 97
• Issue: 6
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.97.064013
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/920324
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.97.064013