Anisotropic Compact Stars in General Relativity: An Exact Self-Bound Analytical Solution for Stellar Systems
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. General Relativistic Field Equations for the Stellar Configuration
3. A Novel Analytical Solution for the Anisotropic Spherical Model
4. Junction Conditions at the Boundary of the Object
5. Critical Investigations on Physical Characteristics of the Stellar Object
- Regularity of the gravitational potentials: In order to remain a well-behaved solution, it is necessary for the derived gravitational potentials for the model to be finite at the core of the object. Here, the potential , while the central value of is given byFurthermore, it can be easily verified that and . Equations (12) and (16), along with Equation (29), clearly indicate that the gravitational potentials within the star are finite as well as positive. These statements suggest that the metric is smooth at the center and has excellent characteristics across the celestial body, as evident from Figure 1. We note from Figure 1 that the metric potential is roughly steady and keeps its behavior as it is along the radial coordinate r, whereas the is gradually increasing with r, which is inversely related to . Now, one may look at Figure 2, where the expected features are available as the mentioned two gravitational potentials are inversely proportional. However, those do not exactly match on the boundary; rather, they meet at the radius km of the star under consideration, and this radius, therefore, provides us the physical configuration of the star, i.e., the radius of the compact star. From the figure, it is clear that the intrinsic metric remains well behaved, i.e., free from the central singularity, smoothly connected and without any discontinuity at the stellar boundary . It is also notable that below km, where , a coordinate singularity occurs and, thus, one obtains there the Schwarzschild sphere with the radius km. Beyond the region, where km, we obtain an unusual and extra feature due to the ergospheric effect, with an indication that the pressures do not vanish on the boundary of the compact star (see Figure 2, upper right panel).
- Pressure and Density Profiles at the Core of the Star:For a realistic model of a compact star, it is essential for the physical quantities , , and to have positive values and consistently decline, i.e., , , and must be negative for . In our given situation, to verify these criteria, we first calculate the gradients of these variables by using the following specific procedure:Moreover, there must be a finite and non-negative value for the central density and central radial as well as tangential pressures inside the system. In the current model, the central values of these quantities areTo ensure the feature of the positive density and pressure at the center, the parameters must be positive, while must be either or , i.e., . Therefore, the positivity of Equation (34) givesSince the pressure–density ratio must be less than unity everywhere within the star, i.e., , we haveFurthermore, the condition indicates that the anisotropy disappears at the center. Overall, the behaviors of the pressure and density profiles are satisfactory under our stellar model, as can be observed from Figure 2.Now, we will establish the relation between the parameters R, , and through the following condition:After solving Equation (38) we obtain the following relation:
- Equation of state parameter: The equation of state (EOS) parameter is defined as the quotient of the pressure divided by the density, which provides important information on the composition of the star’s substance and the characteristics of maximum mass for a compact star [43]. Furthermore, the parameter must not exceed 1 throughout the entire stellar configuration. Therefore, we consider to examine our model via the equation of state parameters, defined byIn order to obtain a non-exotic where , its value must fall between 0 and 1, and one can note that the criteria are shown to be satisfied by our model, i.e., and , taking place in the first quadrant of the graphical plot (see Figure 4). In this context, it will be worthwhile to mention that represents a case of stiff fluid, as envisioned by Zel’dovich [44], where the pressure P is equal to the energy density , which means that the speed of sound in the fluid is equal to the speed of light. On the other hand, is the EOS parameter for photons, and to achieve this phase we need such that needs to exceed from the stiff fluid EOS parameter. We draw a line to highlight the situation for in Figure 3.
- Causality condition: The radial and transverse speed of sound () can be obtained as follows:In order to make a relativistic anisotropic star physically acceptable, the quantities and inside the star must be less than 1. This means that the rate of change of and with respect to ( and ) must be between 0 and 1. This condition is referred to as the causality condition, which is depicted in Figure 5. It can be noted from this figure that the sound speeds are increasing with the radial distance, while a contrary feature is exhibited by the stability factor.
- Energy conditions: The classical energy requirements are useful for forecasting the characteristics of the matter within the dense star. In general, the energy conditions may be summarized as follows:
- (i)
- Null energy condition (NEC): .
- (ii)
- Weak energy condition (WEC): , .
- (iii)
- Strong energy condition (SEC): , .
- (iv)
- Dominant energy condition (DEC): .
- (v)
- Trace energy condition (TEC): .
It should be noted that the energy conditions are satisfied by all normal or Newtonian matter. To examine the status of the linear barotropic equation, we write - Stability via Harrison–Zel’dovich–Novikov (HZN) criteria: When determining stability, we make use of the criteria of Harrison–Zel’dovich–Novikov (HZN) [45,46]. For the purpose of determining the scientific reliability of the HZN stability criterion, the following inequality is utilized:
- .
- .
Here, denotes a central density.In order to verify the above condition for an anisotropic solution, we determine the subsequent expressions:From Figure 7, one can observe that and, thus, provides a stable stellar structure. - Stability via adiabatic index: The definition of the adiabatic indexAccording to the notion of Heintzmann and Hillebrandt [47], a Newtonian isotropic sphere is considered to be in stable equilibrium if the adiabatic index becomes greater than 4/3, whereas if it is equal to 4/3, the isotropic sphere will be in neutral equilibrium. However, according to the recent research by Chan et al. [48], the stability of a relativistic anisotropic sphere may be determined by the following condition:Figure 8 features the stability under the adiabatic index, which starts from a numerical value that is greater than and increases gradually with respect to the radial coordinate.
- Hydrostatic equilibrium via TOV criterion: A stellar object remains in a state of static equilibrium due to the forces acting on it, specifically the gravitational force (), hydrostatic force (), and anisotropic force (). The mathematical formulation of this condition is known as the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff (TOV) equation and can be given byThe above equation can be divided into three mentioned forces, viz., , , and , such that
6. Discussion and Conclusions
- (i)
- In order to obtain an idea regarding the nature of the proposed solution and whether it remains well behaved, we draw Figure 1 for the derived gravitational potentials for the model to be finite at the core of the object. It can be noted that the functions and are unconstrained and solely determined by the radial coordinate r. Figure 1 clearly indicates that the gravitational potentials within the star are both finite and positive, which readily suggests that the metric is smooth at the center and has excellent characteristics across the celestial body.
- (ii)
- For a stellar model to be physically acceptable, there must be a finite and non-negative value for the central density, central radial, and tangential pressure inside the configuration. For the current stellar model, all the central values of these quantities are satisfactory, as evident from Figure 2. Moreover, Figure 3 shows the variation of radial distance r over the parameters and .
- (iii)
- The equation of state parameter provides important information regarding the composition of the internal stellar substance and the characteristics of maximum mass for a compact star, as can be observed from Figure 4.
- (iv)
- The features of the radial and transverse speed of sound can be obtained from Figure 5, which essentially ensures the causality condition. In order to make a relativistic anisotropic star physically acceptable, the quantities and inside the star must be less than 1. This can be understood in the following way: the rate of change of and with respect to ( and ) must remain in between 0 and 1. Thus, from this figure, one can observe that the condition has been maintained appreciably.
- (v)
- As the classical energy conditions are useful in the context of forecasting the attributes of the matter within the dense stellar configuration, we exhibit the energy budgeting in Figure 6. This figure shows the usual features as per physical requirements.
- (vi)
- The stability of the stellar configuration via the HZN criteria is demonstrated in Figure 7
- (vii)
- Stability via the adiabatic index is shown in Figure 8, and determines the stability of a relativistic anisotropic star structure in a satisfactory manner.
- (viii)
- Furthermore, the hydrostatic equilibrium via the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff (TOV) criterion, where a stellar object remains in a state of static equilibrium due to the forces acting on it, can be visualized in Figure 9.
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
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Central Pressure | Surface Pressure | Central Density | Surface Density |
---|---|---|---|
() | () | () | () |
5.72149 | 1.46084 | 1.94972 | 6.84024 |
Ratio | Adiabatic Index | Surface Redshift |
---|---|---|
() | () | |
0.36512 | 1.60737 | 0.92536 |
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Maurya, S.K.; Mustafa, G.; Javed, F.; Ray, S.; Abd-Elmonem, A.; Alhubieshi, N. Anisotropic Compact Stars in General Relativity: An Exact Self-Bound Analytical Solution for Stellar Systems. Universe 2025, 11, 33. https://doi.org/10.3390/universe11020033
Maurya SK, Mustafa G, Javed F, Ray S, Abd-Elmonem A, Alhubieshi N. Anisotropic Compact Stars in General Relativity: An Exact Self-Bound Analytical Solution for Stellar Systems. Universe. 2025; 11(2):33. https://doi.org/10.3390/universe11020033
Chicago/Turabian StyleMaurya, Sunil Kumar, Ghulam Mustafa, Faisal Javed, Saibal Ray, Assmaa Abd-Elmonem, and Neissrien Alhubieshi. 2025. "Anisotropic Compact Stars in General Relativity: An Exact Self-Bound Analytical Solution for Stellar Systems" Universe 11, no. 2: 33. https://doi.org/10.3390/universe11020033
APA StyleMaurya, S. K., Mustafa, G., Javed, F., Ray, S., Abd-Elmonem, A., & Alhubieshi, N. (2025). Anisotropic Compact Stars in General Relativity: An Exact Self-Bound Analytical Solution for Stellar Systems. Universe, 11(2), 33. https://doi.org/10.3390/universe11020033