Constraints on color-flavor locked quark matter in view of the HESS J1731-347 measurement

Abstract

Astrophysical observations play a crucial role in understanding the processes within compact stars. A recent study measured the central object in the HESS J1731-347 supernova remnant (SNR), estimating its mass at $M=0.77_{-0.17}^{+0.20}{M}_{\odot }$ and radius at $R=10.40_{-0.78}^{+0.86}\mathrm{km}$, identifying it as the lightest neutron star ever observed. Conventional models suggest neutron stars form with a minimum gravitational mass of approximately $1.17M_{\odot }$, raising the question of whether this object is a typical neutron star or possibly an "exotic" star. To investigate, we utilize the Color-Flavor Locked (CFL) equation of state (EoS), integrating data from the HESS J1731-347 measurement with pulsar observations and gravitational wave detections. Additionally, we construct hybrid EoS by combining the MDI-APR1 (hadronic) and CFL (quark) EoS, introducing a phase transition through Maxwell construction. Our findings reveal that absolutely stable CFL quark matter effectively explains all observed measurements, including the central object of HESS J1731-347, whereas hybrid models incorporating the CFL MIT Bag model cannot account for the masses of the most massive observed pulsars.

Comments: v1: 6 pages, 6 figures, 1 table; v2: 6 pages, 6 figures; updated to match the published version in the proceedings of the 32nd Symposium of the Hellenic Nuclear Physics Society (HNPS 2024)