Quote:
Originally Posted by snas
Steven
Quoting wikipedia here (not necessarily the best scientific adviser):
"It is theorized that when the neutron-degenerate matter which makes up a neutron star is put under sufficient pressure due to the star's gravity, the individual neutrons break down into their constituent quarks, up quarks and down quarks. Some of these quarks may then become strange quarks and form strange matter. The star then becomes known as a "quark star" or "strange star", similar to a single gigantic hadron (but bound by gravity rather than the strong force). Quark matter/strange matter is one candidate for the theoretical dark matter that is a feature of several cosmological theories."
So given that protons and neutron are varieties of hadrons, does that potentially make a quark star just one great big neutron?
Interesting stuff in your link Steven,
Thanks for that
Stuart
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Stuart,
You're right about questioning Wilkipedia as an accurate source.
Equating quark stars as a single gigantic hadron is somewhat strange as the only stable hadron in the free state is the proton.
Free neutrons as opposed to neutrons bound by the strong force in a nucleus only have a half life of about 15 minutes.
So if a quark star is a single large neutron it would decay into a proton with the the emission of beta radiation very quickly.
Regards
Steven