Relativistic mean-field theory equation of state of neutron star matter and a Maxwellian phase transition to strange quark matter

The equation of state of neutron star matter is examined in terms of the relativistic mean-field theory, including a scalar-isovector δ-meson effective field. The constants of the theory are determined numerically so that the empirically known characteristics of symmetric nuclear matter are reproduced at the saturation density. The thermodynamic characteristics of both asymmetric nucleonic matter and β-equilibrium hadron-electron npe-plasmas are studied. Assuming that the transition to strange quark matter is an ordinary first-order phase transition described by Maxwell's rule, a detailed study is made of the variations in the parameters of the phase transition owing to the presence of a δ-meson field. The quark phase is described using an improved version of the bag model, in which interactions between quarks are accounted for in a one-gluon exchange approximation. The characteristics of the phase transition are determined for various values of the bag parameter within the range B ∈ 60,120]MeV/fm³ and it is shown that including a δ-meson field leads to a reduction in the phase transition pressure P ₀ and in the concentrations n _N and n _Q at the phase transition point. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 147–164 (February 2009).