Quarkyonic matter with strangeness in an extended RMF model

Abstract

Quarkyonic matter is expected to play a key role for the transition from hadronic matter to quark matter in compact stars. Within the framework of the relativistic mean field (RMF) model and equivparticle model with density-dependent quark masses, we construct the ``quark Fermi sea" with a ``baryon Fermi surface" to characterize the properties of the quarkyonic matter. In particular, we develop a comprehensive framework to account for the strangeness degrees of freedom, incorporating $\Lambda$, $\Xi$, and $\Sigma$ hyperons as well as strange quarks in a unified quarkyonic framework. Our calculations indicate that the inevitable emergence of hyperons softens the equations of state, leading to a reduction in the speed of sound around $n_{\rm b}\approx 2n_0$, and consequently reducing the masses and radii of neutron stars. When the quark-hadron phase transition is taken into account, the equation of state at high densities exhibits additional softening, leading to a maximum sound velocity of $v_{\rm max} \approx 0.6\,c$, which is close to the ultrarelativistic limit of $0.58\,c$, consistent with current astronomical observational constraints.