General-purpose equations of state for hadron-quark matter: first application to accretion-induced phase transitions in neutron stars
Strong first-order phase transitions in the cores of neutron stars (NSs) can have profound implications for astrophysical observables, however, their existence remains an open question. Since most NSs form in binary systems, they are expected to experience prolonged episodes of mass accretion that gradually increase their central density and can potentially trigger such a transition. This might, in turn, generate observable multi-messenger signals, as suggested by previous studies. Motivated by…