paper

The mass of the neutron star in 4U 1820-30 revisited

arXiv:2606.02828 · doi:10.1016/j.jheap.2026.100651

Abstract

We revisit the mass of the neutron star in the ultracompact binary 4U 1820--30 in light of a recently reported transient absorption feature at about 3.8 keV, interpreted as a gravitationally redshifted, highly ionized iron line and implying \(1+z\simeq1.72\), a very high stellar compactness. We examine whether the mass-radius locus implied by this interpretation can be made compatible with external EoS-informed benchmarks and timing-based estimates. We map the compactness implied by the redshift onto the mass-radius plane, including rotational effects, and compare the resulting region with an EoS-informed 95\% reference contour derived from NICER data of several neutron-star systems. While we do not perform a statistically self-consistent joint mass-radius inference for 4U 1820--30, we present a quantitative conditional consistency test in a common \(M-R\) framework, comparing published inputs under explicitly stated assumptions. We find that, if the maximum neutron-star mass is restricted to low values \((\leq 2.3\,M_{\odot})\), the redshift-implied locus shows at most marginal overlap with the EoS-informed contour, indicating substantial tension. Allowing a higher maximum mass enlarges the parameter space and can restore compatibility with that benchmark. However, such high masses remain in tension with previous touchdown-flux estimates, although they are not necessarily excluded by interpretations based on the highest detected quasi-periodic oscillation frequency. We conclude that the redshift interpretation of the 3.8 keV feature, the touchdown-flux estimates, and the QPO/ISCO interpretation do not naturally select the same mass-radius sector for this source under these assumptions. Reconciling them requires auxiliary assumptions with high leverage on the inferred compactness.

8 pages, 1 figure

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