Letter to the Editor

Quark-Nova

¹ Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics, Blegdamsvej 17, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
² Department of Physics, Maulana Azad College, Calcutta 700 013, India
³ Department of Physics, Presidency College, Calcutta 700 073, India

Corresponding author: R. Ouyed, ouyed@nordita.dk

Received: 14 May 2002
Accepted: 1 July 2002

Abstract

We explore the scenario where the core of a neutron star (having experienced a transition to an up and down quark phase) shrinks into the equilibrated quark object after reaching strange quark matter saturation density (where a composition of up, down and strange quarks is the favored state of matter). The overlaying (envelope) material free-falls following the core contraction releasing upto in energy as radiation, partly as a result of the conversion of envelope material to quarks. This phenomena, we named Quark-Nova, leads to a wide variety of ejectae ranging form the Newtonian, “dirty" to the ultra-relativistic fireball. The mass range of the corresponding compact remnant (the quark star) ranges from less than up to a solar mass. We discuss the connection between Quark-Novae and Gamma ray bursts and suggest the recently studied GRB011211 event as a plausible Quark-Nova candidate.