https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-026-15666-4
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
Rotating strange dwarfs and their indistinguishability from white dwarfs
1
Instituto de Formação de Educadores, Universidade Federal do Cariri, R. Olegário Emidio de Araujo, s/n - Aldeota, 63260-000, Brejo Santo, CE, Brazil
2
Departamento de Ciencias, Universidad Privada del Norte, Avenida el Sol 461, 15434, San Juan de Lurigancho, Peru
3
Facultad de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Avenida Venezuela s/n, 15081, Cercado de Lima, Peru
4
Departamento de Física, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Medianeira, PR, Brazil
5
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Física e Astronomia, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Jardim das Americas, 82590-300, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
6
San Diego State University, Department of Physics, 92182, San Diego, CA, USA
7
University of California at San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, 92093, La Jolla, CA, USA
a
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Received:
6
February
2026
Accepted:
2
April
2026
Published online:
20
April
2026
Abstract
We investigate the structure of strange dwarfs, modeled as hybrid compact stars composed of a self bound strange quark matter core surrounded by a white dwarf like crust, within a fully relativistic framework. Static configurations are constructed by solving the Tolman Oppenheimer Volkoff equations, and uniformly rotating configurations are modeled within the Hartle-Thorne slow rotation expansion (to 
). We therefore interpret results at large fractional spins conservatively, and use the Kepler frequency mainly as a reference scale for comparing different masses and models. The stellar matter is described using a hybrid equation of state, in which the crust is modeled by a degenerate electron-ion system and the core by the MIT Bag Model. By comparing strange dwarfs with conventional white dwarfs across a range of rotation rates, we show that rotation inflates the radius and can reduce (in a quantifiable way) the separation between the two families in the (M, R) plane, potentially masking structural signatures associated with the presence of a quark core. Our results highlight the importance of accounting for rotational effects when interpreting mass radius measurements and other global observables in the context of searches for exotic compact objects in current and future high precision surveys.
© The Author(s) 2026
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