Gravitational Higgs mechanism in neutron star interiors
We suggest that nonminimally coupled scalar fields can lead to modifications of the microphysics in the interiors of relativistic stars. As a concrete example, we consider the generation of a non-zero photon mass in such high-density environments. This is achieved by means of a light gravitational s...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
American Physical Society
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41831/ |
| Summary: | We suggest that nonminimally coupled scalar fields can lead to modifications of the microphysics in the interiors of relativistic stars. As a concrete example, we consider the generation of a non-zero photon mass in such high-density environments. This is achieved by means of a light gravitational scalar, and the scalarization phase transition in scalar-tensor theories of gravitation. Two distinct models are presented, and phenomenological implications are briefly discussed. |
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