On the minimum and maximum mass of neutron stars and the delayed collapse

Abstract

The minimum and maximum mass of protoneutron stars and neutron stars are investigated. The hot dense matter is described by relativistic (including hyperons) and non-relativistic equations of state. We show that the minimum mass ($\sim$ 0.88 - 1.28 $M_{\sun}$) of a neutron star is determined by the earliest stage of its evolution and is nearly unaffected by the presence of hyperons. The maximum mass of a neutron star is limited by the protoneutron star or hot neutron star stage. Further we find that the delayed collapse of a neutron star into a black hole during deleptonization is not only possible for equations of state with softening components, as for instance, hyperons, meson condensates etc., but also for neutron stars with a pure nucleonic-leptonic equation of state.