General relativistic surface degrees of freedom in perturbed hybrid stars

Abstract

We study how the nature of a hybrid system (perfect fluid, solid or a mixture of them) could be related to the induction of general relativistic surface degrees of freedom on phase-splitting surfaces upon perturbation of its phases. We work in the scope of phase conversions in the vicinity of sharp phase transition surfaces whose timescales are either much smaller (rapid conversions) or larger (slow conversions) than the ones of the perturbations ($\omega^{-1}$, where $\omega$ is a characteristic frequency of oscillation of the star). In this first approach, perturbations are assumed to be purely radial. We show that surface degrees of freedom could emerge when either the core or the crust of a hybrid star is solid and phase conversions close to a phase-splitting surface are rapid. We also show how this would change the usual stability rule for solid hybrid stars, namely $\partial M_0/\partial \rho_c\geq 0$, where $M_0$ is the total mass to the background hybrid star and $\rho_c$ its central density. Further consequences of our analysis for asteroseismology are also briefly discussed.