Speaker
Description
SLSNe may offer a unique probe of the internal physics of newly born neutron stars (NSs). In our framework, the central engine arises from the delayed conversion of a massive NS (~2Msun) to a hybrid star (HS) once the density in the core reaches the quark deconfinement threshold. This transition releases additional energy and may generate extremely strong magnetic fields (> 10^15 G) through QCD-driven amplification. The delay (of weeks to months) between the core-collapse SN and the onset of the HS phase provides a secondary energy injection into the expanding ejecta, potentially powering SLSNe. Because the timing of this transition, set by the delay between NS birth and HS formation, and its energetics depend on the microphysics of dense matter, observed spectral and photometric features of SLSNe may encode information about the surface tension of quark matter and the magnetization of matter at supranuclear densities. In this way, SLSNe may serve as astrophysical laboratories for probing NS core physics and a novel pathway to producing extreme magnetic fields in nature.
