Equation of states in the curved spacetime of spherical degenerate stars

In the study of spherical degenerate stars such as neutron stars, general relativistic effects are incorporated by using Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations to describe their interior spacetime. However, the equation of states employed in such studies are invariably computed in flat spacetime. We show that the equation of states computed in the curved spacetime of these stars depend explicitly on the metric function. Further, we show that ignoring such metric-dependent gravitational time dilation effect leads one to grossly underestimate the mass limits of these compact stars.

Automated summary

In the study of spherical degenerate stars, effects of general relativity and gravitational time dilation are crucial and ignoring them can lead to significantly underestimating the mass limits of these compact stars.