"Stars Can Be Strange: Physicists Explore Strange Matter Hypothesis

Science Daily - According to the "Strange Matter Hypothesis," which
gained popularity in the paranormal 1980's, nuclear matter, too, can be
strange. The hypothesis suggests that small conglomerations of quarks,
the infinitesimally tiny particles that attract by a strong nuclear
force to form neutrons and protons in atoms, are the true ground state
of matter. The theory has captivated particle physicists worldwide,
including one of Washington University's own.

Mark Alford, Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis assistant
professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, and collaborators from MIT and
the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Los Alamos National
Laboratory, have used mathematical modeling to discover some properties
of theoretical "strange stars," composed entirely of quark matter.
Alford and his colleagues have found that under the right conditions
the surface of a strange star could fragment into blobs of quark
material called "strangelets," forming a rigid halo that contradicts
traditional strange star models. This means that collapsed stars'
nuclear leftovers, like the famously resplendent Crab Nebula, could be
stranger than physicists think."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1219095358.htm


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