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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.18260 |
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| _version_ | 1866916022881091584 |
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| author | Campos, Jonathan Joás Zapata Negreiros, Rodrigo |
| author_facet | Campos, Jonathan Joás Zapata Negreiros, Rodrigo |
| contents | We investigate the existence and stability of highly-compact sub-stellar objects composed of strange quark matter (SQM), focusing on finite-size strangelets with baryon number $A \leq 100$. Motivated by the emergence of mass--radius outliers in the \textit{Gaia} DR3 era, we employ a Bayesian exploration of the MIT bag-model parameter space, explicitly accounting for finite-size surface and curvature contributions that become relevant at low baryon number. Enforcing the bulk absolute-stability requirement for SQM ($E/A < 930~\mathrm{MeV}$), we find that self-gravitating equilibrium sequences are confined to the sub-stellar regime, with typical masses $M \simeq 10^{-2}$--$10^{-1}\,M_{\odot}$ and characteristic radii of order $10^{3}$--$10^{4}$ km. We further show that rapid rotation, treated through a self-consistent framework that incorporates relativistic thermodynamics, can substantially inflate the equatorial radius and extend the accessible mass--radius domain. While rotation does not eliminate the intrinsic high-density compactness of these configurations, it shifts the most extended models closer to the observational parameter space of massive exoplanets. A comparison with objects from the NASA Exoplanet Archive reveals a pronounced density gap separating standard atomic-matter planets and brown dwarfs from the strangelet-rich branch predicted here. We conclude that light strangelets cannot account for solar-mass white dwarfs, but they robustly predict a previously unexplored population of ultra-compact sub-stellar objects, offering testable targets for future microlensing searches and high-cadence photometric surveys. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_18260 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Sub-stellar Strange Quark Matter Objects: Predicting a New Class of Highly-Compact Candidates Campos, Jonathan Joás Zapata Negreiros, Rodrigo High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Earth and Planetary Astrophysics Solar and Stellar Astrophysics We investigate the existence and stability of highly-compact sub-stellar objects composed of strange quark matter (SQM), focusing on finite-size strangelets with baryon number $A \leq 100$. Motivated by the emergence of mass--radius outliers in the \textit{Gaia} DR3 era, we employ a Bayesian exploration of the MIT bag-model parameter space, explicitly accounting for finite-size surface and curvature contributions that become relevant at low baryon number. Enforcing the bulk absolute-stability requirement for SQM ($E/A < 930~\mathrm{MeV}$), we find that self-gravitating equilibrium sequences are confined to the sub-stellar regime, with typical masses $M \simeq 10^{-2}$--$10^{-1}\,M_{\odot}$ and characteristic radii of order $10^{3}$--$10^{4}$ km. We further show that rapid rotation, treated through a self-consistent framework that incorporates relativistic thermodynamics, can substantially inflate the equatorial radius and extend the accessible mass--radius domain. While rotation does not eliminate the intrinsic high-density compactness of these configurations, it shifts the most extended models closer to the observational parameter space of massive exoplanets. A comparison with objects from the NASA Exoplanet Archive reveals a pronounced density gap separating standard atomic-matter planets and brown dwarfs from the strangelet-rich branch predicted here. We conclude that light strangelets cannot account for solar-mass white dwarfs, but they robustly predict a previously unexplored population of ultra-compact sub-stellar objects, offering testable targets for future microlensing searches and high-cadence photometric surveys. |
| title | Sub-stellar Strange Quark Matter Objects: Predicting a New Class of Highly-Compact Candidates |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Earth and Planetary Astrophysics Solar and Stellar Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.18260 |