Speaker
Description
While it is thought that hyperons should play a key role in neutron stars, hyperonic models of nuclear matter in neutron star interiors have previously led to maximum stellar masses below the observed maximum. In this research, both scalar ($\sigma^*$) and vector ($\phi$) hidden strangeness mesons are added to the quark-meson-coupling (QMC) model. QMC is unique in that the coupling directly to quarks - for instance, that of $\sigma^*$ to the s quark - naturally produces many-body interactions through the scalar polarisability, without the need for additional parameters. The strange scalar meson is incorporated into the QMC model as a new source of modification of the effective baryon mass in-medium, and the inclusion of both hidden strangeness mesons produces a stiffened equation of state, with maximum masses approaching $2.15M_{\odot}$.