Eur. Phys. J. C (1999) 11: 173-180
https://doi.org/10.1007/s100529900176

Theoretical physics

Gravitational phase transition of fermionic matter in a general-relativistic framework

Rudjer Bošković Institute, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia , HR
Department of Physics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa , ZA

Received: 23 April 1999
Revised: 24 June 1999
Published online: 28 September 1999

Abstract

The Thomas–Fermi model at finite temperature is extended to describe a system of self-gravitating weakly interacting massive fermions in a general-relativistic framework. The existence and properties of the gravitational phase transition in this model are investigated numerically. It is shown that when a nondegenerate gas of weakly interacting massive fermions is cooled below some critical temperature, a condensed phase emerges, consisting of quasidegenerate fermion stars. For fermion masses of 10 to 25 keV, these fermion stars may very well provide an alternative explanation for the supermassive compact dark objects that are observed at galactic centers.