Inverse Chameleon Mechanism and Mass Limits for Compact Stars

Abstract

As is well known, there are various mass limits for compact stars. For example, the maximum mass for non-rotating white dwarfs is given by the famous Chandrasekhar limit about $1.4M_{\odot }$ (solar masses). Although the mass limit for neutron stars is not so clear to date, one of the widely accepted values is about $2.1M_{\odot }$. Recently, challenges to these mass limits appeared. Motivated by the super-Chandrasekhar mass white dwarfs with masses up to $2.4\sim 2.8M_{\odot }$, and compact objects (probably neutron stars) in the mass gap (from $2.5M_{\odot }$ or $3M_{\odot }$ to $5M_{\odot }$) inferred from gravitational waves detected by LIGO/Virgo in the third observing run (O3), we reconsider the mass limits for compact stars in the present work. Without invoking strong magnetic field and/or exotic equation of state (EOS), we try to increase the mass limits for compact stars in modified gravity theory. In this work, we propose an inverse chameleon mechanism, and show that the fifth-force mediated by the scalar field can evade the severe tests on earth, in solar system and universe, but manifest itself in compact stars such as white dwarfs and neutron stars. The mass limits for compact stars in the inverse chameleon mechanism can be easily increased to $3M_{\odot }$, $5M_{\odot }$ or even larger. We argue that the inverse chameleon mechanism might be constrained by the observations of exoplanets orbiting compact stars (such as white dwarfs and neutron stars), and gravitational waves from the last stage of binary compact star coalescence.

arXiv comment18 pages, 1 figure, revtex4; v2: discussions added, JCAP in press; v3: published version

References in corpus (37)

• Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger
• A Phantom Menace? Cosmological consequences of a dark energy component with super-negative equation of state
• GW190814: Gravitational Waves from the Coalescence of a 23 M${}_{\odot }$ Black Hole with a 2.6 M${}_{\odot }$ Compact Object
• Tests of general relativity with GW150914
• Chameleon Fields: Awaiting Surprises for Tests of Gravity in Space
• Chameleon Cosmology
• Relativistic Shapiro delay measurements of an extremely massive millisecond pulsar
• Masses, Radii, and Equation of State of Neutron Stars
• Ghost Condensation and a Consistent Infrared Modification of Gravity
• Using gravitational-wave observations and quasi-universal relations to constrain the maximum mass of neutron stars
• The phantom menaced: constraints on low-energy effective ghosts
• The type Ia supernova SNLS-03D3bb from a super-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf star
• Detecting Dark Energy in Orbit -- the Cosmological Chameleon
• The Maximum Mass of a Neutron Star
• On the Mass Distribution and Birth Masses of Neutron Stars
• Stellar structure models in modified theories of gravity: lessons and challenges
• Maximum mass of neutron stars and strange neutron-star cores
• New mass limit for white dwarfs: super-Chandrasekhar type Ia supernova as a new standard candle
• No-Go Theorems for Generalized Chameleon Field Theories
• A Single Degenerate Progenitor Model for Type Ia Supernovae Highly Exceeding the Chandrasekhar Mass Limit
• On the maximum mass of neutron stars and GW190814
• Scalar self-interactions loosen constraints from fifth force searches
• Strongly magnetized cold electron degenerate gas: Mass-radius relation of the magnetized white dwarf
• K-Chameleon and the Coincidence Problem
• Chameleon Field Theories
• Phase transitions in dense matter and the maximum mass of neutron stars
• On the Maximum Mass of Neutron Stars
• Phantom energy mediates a long-range repulsive force
• Maximum mass of stable magnetized highly super-Chandrasekhar white dwarfs: stable solutions with varying magnetic fields
• UV stable, Lorentz-violating dark energy with transient phantom era
• Ultraviolet Observations of Super-Chandrasekhar Mass Type Ia Supernova Candidates with Swift UVOT
• Stable Models of superacceleration
• Model-Independent Constraints on Lorentz Invariance Violation via the Cosmographic Approach
• Relativistic Feynman-Metropolis-Teller Equation of State for White Dwarfs in presence of Magnetic Field
• The Possible Electromagnetic Counterparts of the First High-Probability NSBH Merger LIGO/Virgo S190814bv
• Chandrasekhar limit for rotating quark stars
• Neutron Star as a Mirror for Gravitational Waves

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Novel constraints on fifth forces and ultralight dark sector with asteroidal data
• Alleviating the Hubble Tension with a Local Void and Transitions of the Absolute Magnitude
• Structural Implications of the Chameleon Mechanism on White Dwarfs