QCD in neutron stars and strange stars

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the possible role of Quantum Chromo Dynamics (QDC) for neutron stars and strange stars. The fundamental degrees of freedom of QCD are quarks, which may exist as unconfined (color superconducting) particles in the cores of neutron stars. There is also the theoretical possibility that a significantly large number of up, down, and strange quarks may settle down in a new state of matter known as strange quark matter, which, by hypothesis, could be more stable than atomic nuclei. In the latter case new classes of self-bound, color superconducting objects, ranging from strange quark nuggets to strange quark stars, should exist. The properties of such objects will be reviewed along with the possible existence of deconfined quarks in neutron stars. Implications for observational astrophysics are pointed out.