Preon star

A preon star is a proposed type of compact star made of preons, a group of hypothetical subatomic particles. Preon stars would be expected to have huge densities, exceeding 10²³ kilogram per cubic meter—intermediate between quark stars and black holes. A preon star having the same mass as Earth would be about the size of a tennis ball.

Preon stars could originate from supernova explosions or the big bang. Such objects could be detected in principle through gravitational lensing of gamma rays. Preon stars are a potential candidate for dark matter. However, current observations from particle accelerators speaks against the existence of preons.

See also

• Compact star
  • Gravastar
  • Exotic star
  • Quark star
  • Q star
  • Neutron star
  • Pulsar
  • Stellar black hole
  • Fuzzballs
  • Magnetars
  • Dark energy star
  • White dwarfs
  • Strangelets
• Degenerate matter
  • Quark matter
  • Neutronium
  • Preon matter

External links

• New Scientist issue 2643, "Could preon stars reveal a hidden reality?", 6 February 2008
• New Scientist issue 2472, "Micro-stars may manage to avoid black-hole fate", 6 November 2008

References

• Johan Hansson and Fredrik Sandin, Preon stars: a new class of cosmic compact objects. Phys. Lett. B 616, 1 (2005).
• Fredrik Sandin, Exotic Phases of Matter in Compact Stars. (May 8, 2005) PDF
• Johan Hansson, A hierarchy of cosmic compact objects - without black holes. Acta Phys.Polon. B38, 91 (2007). PDF
• Johan Hansson and Fredrik Sandin, The observational legacy of preon stars - probing new physics beyond the LHC.
• J. E. Horvath, Constraints on superdense preon stars and their formation scenarios. Astrophys. Space Sci. 307, 419 (2007).
• Fredrik Sandin, Exotic Phases of Matter in Compact Stars. (2007) PDF
• Article in NatureNews : Splitting the quark. (Nov. 2007)