General-relativistic structure of two-component quantum dark fermion stars
astro-ph.HE, astro-ph.GA, gr-qc, hep-ph, hep-th
Submitted: 2026-08-04
Updated: 2026-08-26
Comments: 19 pages, 10 figures and 3 tables. Accepted for publication in Physical Review D
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The gist: We develop a general-relativistic framework for two-component quantum dark fermion stars: equilibrium configurations of two degenerate fermion species governed by gravity, a Yukawa-mediated dark
Terminology
Abstract
We develop a general-relativistic framework for two-component quantum dark fermion stars: equilibrium configurations of two degenerate fermion species governed by gravity, a Yukawa-mediated dark fifth force and a globally relevant Bohm quantum-pressure correction. The treatment retains the full covariant form of the nonlinear Klein--Gordon equation in the Schwarzschild interior, with closure relations valid at arbitrary compactness, from the ultralight baseline up to densities of order 0.16, fm-3 at which relativistic scalar densities and self-consistent effective fermion masses become unavoidable. Two Lagrangian parameters, the dark-fermion mass and the dimensionless ratio between the Yukawa channel and gravity, together fix the equilibrium structure; a joint measurement of mass and radius therefore constrains the dark-sector microphysics directly from gravitational-wave observables. For particle masses in the band 10-11 -- 10-10 eV, the configurations exhibit radii of 3 -- 24, km and compactness in the range 0.14 -- 0.34, behaving as dual mimickers: at moderate compactness they overlap with neutron stars in mass, radius, and inspiral frequency; at the most compact end (kappa about 0.34, R T/R S 1.5) they cross the photon sphere and could masquerade as low-mass black holes in the mass-gap region. Tidal-deformability measurements discriminate against both populations: the dimensionless tidal deformability is measurably smaller than the neutron-star value yet remains non-zero, unlike that of a genuine black hole. These objects populate the sensitivity bands of LISA, the Einstein Telescope, and Cosmic Explorer, producing astrometric microlensing signatures individually resolvable by Gaia. The framework thus provides a reproducible and falsifiable template for constraining dark-sector properties through multi-messenger observations.
Sources
- Cosmic Explorer: The U.S. Contribution to Gravitational-Wave Astronomy beyond LIGO
- Self-gravitating quantum stars with a globally relevant Bohm potential
- Unitarity constraints on general scalar couplings with SARAH
- Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
- OGLE-IV: Fourth Phase of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment
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