We study the mass-radius curve of hybrid stars, assuming a single first-order phase transition between nuclear and quark matter, with a sharp interface between the quark matter core and nuclear matter mantle. We use a generic parametrization of the quark matter equation of state, which has a constant, i.e. density-independent, speed of sound. We argue that this parametrization provides a framework for comparison and empirical testing of models of quark matter. We obtain the phase diagram of possible forms of the hybrid star mass-radius relation, where the control parameters are the transition pressure, energy density discontinuity, and the quark matter speed of sound. We find that this diagram is sensitive to the quark matter parameters but fairly insensitive to details of the nuclear matter equation of state (EoS). We calculate the maximum hybrid star mass as a function of the parameters of the quark matter EoS, and find that there are reasonable values of those parameters that give rise to hybrid stars with mass above $2M_{\odot }$.

• Received 7 June 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.88.083013