Quark-Hadron Phase Transitions in Young and Old Neutron Stars

Abstract

The mixed phase of quarks and hadrons which might exist in the dense matter encountered in the varying conditions of temperature and trapped neutrino fraction in proto-neutron stars is studied. The extent that the mixed phase depends upon the thermodynamical parameters as well as on the stiffness of matter in the hadronic and quark phases is discussed. We show that hadronic equations of state that maximize the quark content of matter at a given {\it density} generally minimize the extent of the mixed phase region in a neutron star of a given mass, and that only in extreme cases could a pure quark star result. For both the Nambu Jona-Lasinio and MIT bag quark models, neutrino trapping inhibits the appearance of a mixed phase which leads to possible proto-neutron star metastability. The main difference between the two quark models is the small abundance of strange quarks in the former. We also demonstrate that $\partial T/\partial n<0$ along adiabats in the quark-hadron mixed phase, opposite to what is found for the kaon condensates-hadron mixed phase. This could lead to core temperatures which are significantly lower in stars containing quarks than in those not containing quarks.