Singularity stars

Abstract

We study static spherically symmetric solutions to Einstein's equations with a repulsive singularity at the centre. We show that geodesics are extendible across the singularity, so the singularity does not lead to pathological causality properties. It is best described as an irreducible spacetime boundary. As such it must be assigned to an entropy, so that the total entropy is a sum of matter entropy and of singularity entropy. We evaluate the latter by using methods that have been developed for black hole thermodynamics, namely, Euclidean Quantum Gravity and Wald's Noether charge approach. Then, we use the maximum-entropy principle in order to show that regular solutions correspond to global maxima of the total entropy for stellar masses below the Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit, thus providing a thermodynamic justification to the regularity assumption employed in all stellar models. The maximum entropy principle also defines stable singular configurations for masses above the Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit, which we name singularity stars. We analyse their properties, and discuss the possibility that they correspond to a new type of astrophysical object that intermediates between neutron stars and black holes.