Hypothetical violent explosion resulting from conversion of a neutron star to a quark star
A quark-nova is the hypothetical violent explosion resulting from the conversion of a neutron star to a quark star. Analogous to a supernova heralding the birth of a neutron star, a quark nova signals the creation of a quark star. The term quark-novae was coined in 2002 by Dr. Rachid Ouyed (currently at the University of Calgary, Canada)[1] and Drs. J. Dey and M. Dey (Calcutta University, India).[2]
The nova process
When a neutron star spins down,[further explanation needed] it may convert to a quark star through a process known as quark deconfinement. The resultant star would have quark matter in its interior. The process would release immense amounts of energy, perhaps explaining the most energetic explosions in the universe; calculations have estimated that as much as 1046J could be released from the phase transition inside a neutron star.[3] Quark-novae may be one cause of gamma ray bursts. According to Jaikumar and collaborators, they may also be involved in producing heavy elements such as platinum through r-process nucleosynthesis.[4]
Candidates
Rapidly spinning neutron stars with masses between 1.5 and 1.8 solar masses are hypothetically the best candidates for conversion due to spin down of the star within a Hubble time. This amounts to a small fraction of the projected neutron star population. A conservative estimate based on this, indicates that up to two quark-novae may occur in the observable universe each day.[citation needed]
Direct evidence for quark-novae is scant; however, recent observations of supernovae SN 2006gy, SN 2005gj and SN 2005ap may point to their existence.[5][6]
See also
QCD matter, also known as quark matter – Hypothetical phases of matter
Quark-degenerate matter – Type of dense exotic matter in physicsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
SN 2006gy – 2006 hypernova in constellation Perseus
SN 2005gj – Supernova event observed on September 29, 2005