Stellar Equilibrium in Semiclassical Gravity

Stellar mathematics predicts new kind of star

28 February 2019

Giant stars could be reborn as extremely compact stars with a repulsive field.

When stars run out of energy to burn bright, they collapse under their own mass and either explode as supernovae or implode into black holes.

A researcher from the University of Cape Town has calculated that under certain conditions the rearrangement of particles within the immense gravitational field of dying stars could create a field that repels rather than attracts. This would result in a new kind of star that appears dark like a black hole, but without the infamous event horizon from which no light can return.

The continued study of gravitational waves — a space- and time-bending phenomenon thought to be unleashed by the merging of massive objects such as black holes — should reveal whether this new star type actually exists.

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References

1. Physical Review Letters 120, 061102 (2018). doi: 10.1103/physrevlett.120.061102