Screening Mechanisms on White Dwarfs: Symmetron & Dilaton

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Bachs-Esteban, Joan, Lopes, Ilídio, Rubio, Javier
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Bachs-Esteban, Joan
Lopes, Ilídio
Rubio, Javier
author_facet Bachs-Esteban, Joan
Lopes, Ilídio
Rubio, Javier
contents This work provides the first comparison of the symmetron and dilaton fields in white dwarfs. We show how these screening mechanisms behave inside {such stars} and their impact on stellar properties. Employing a custom-developed shooting method, we solve the scalar-tensor equilibrium equations in the Newtonian approximation. We consider a Chandrasekhar equation of state and examine a range of potential mass scales and coupling strengths for both fields. Both fields enhance the pressure drop in low-density white dwarfs, leading to smaller stellar masses, radii, and luminosities. Unlike chameleon models, their effects are suppressed in more massive stars, with symmetron fields fully decoupling and dilaton fields weakening but not vanishing. Consequently, no mass-radius curve for screened white dwarfs exceeds the Newtonian prediction in any of these three mechanisms. The mass-radius deviations are generally more pronounced at lower densities, depending on model parameters. Due to their common runaway potential, we confirm that dilaton and chameleon fields display similar field and gradient profiles. In contrast, due to their environment-dependent coupling, the dilaton and symmetron mechanisms exhibit stronger density-dependent screening effects. These findings highlight both phenomenological differences and theoretical similarities among these mechanisms, motivating asteroseismology studies to constrain the symmetron and dilaton parameter spaces.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_05871
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Screening Mechanisms on White Dwarfs: Symmetron & Dilaton
Bachs-Esteban, Joan
Lopes, Ilídio
Rubio, Javier
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
This work provides the first comparison of the symmetron and dilaton fields in white dwarfs. We show how these screening mechanisms behave inside {such stars} and their impact on stellar properties. Employing a custom-developed shooting method, we solve the scalar-tensor equilibrium equations in the Newtonian approximation. We consider a Chandrasekhar equation of state and examine a range of potential mass scales and coupling strengths for both fields. Both fields enhance the pressure drop in low-density white dwarfs, leading to smaller stellar masses, radii, and luminosities. Unlike chameleon models, their effects are suppressed in more massive stars, with symmetron fields fully decoupling and dilaton fields weakening but not vanishing. Consequently, no mass-radius curve for screened white dwarfs exceeds the Newtonian prediction in any of these three mechanisms. The mass-radius deviations are generally more pronounced at lower densities, depending on model parameters. Due to their common runaway potential, we confirm that dilaton and chameleon fields display similar field and gradient profiles. In contrast, due to their environment-dependent coupling, the dilaton and symmetron mechanisms exhibit stronger density-dependent screening effects. These findings highlight both phenomenological differences and theoretical similarities among these mechanisms, motivating asteroseismology studies to constrain the symmetron and dilaton parameter spaces.
title Screening Mechanisms on White Dwarfs: Symmetron & Dilaton
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.05871