Astrophys Space Sci

DOI 10.1007/s10509-014-2097-2

O R I G I N A L A RT I C L E

Relativistic solutions of anisotropic compact objects

Bikash Chandra Paul · Rumi Deb

Received: 24 June 2014 / Accepted: 5 August 2014

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Abstract We present a class of new relativistic solutions compact astrophysical objects has been a key issue in rela-
with anisotropic fluid for compact stars in hydrostatic equi- tivistic astrophysics over a couple of decades. Astrophysi-
librium. The interior space-time geometry considered here cal objects with perfect fluid necessarily requires the pres-
for compact objects are described by parameters namely, λ, sure inside is isotropic (Ivanov 2002). In general, a poly-
k, A, R and n. The values of the geometrical parameters are tropic equation of state (EOS) is used widely to describe a
determined here for obtaining a class of physically viable white dwarf or a less compact star (Shapiro and Teukolosky
stellar models. The energy-density, radial pressure and tan- 1983). However, theoretical understanding in the last couple
gential pressure are finite and positive inside the anisotropic of decades made it clear that there is a deviation from local
stars. Considering some stars of known mass we present isotropy in the interior pressure. At very high enough den-
stellar models which describe compact astrophysical objects sities with smaller radial size the anisotropic pressure plays
with nuclear density. an important role in determining stellar properties (Ruder-
man 1972; Canuto 1974; Patel et al. 1997). The physical
Keywords Relativistic Star · Compact object · Anisotropic situations where anisotropic pressure may be relevant are
fluid very diverse for a compact stellar object (Ruderman 1972;
Canuto 1974; Maharaj and Maartens 1989; Bower and Liang
1974). By anisotropic pressure we mean the radial compo-
1 Introduction nent of the pressure (pr ) different from that of the tangen-
tial pressure (pt ). After the seminal work of Bower and
The precision astronomical observations in the last couple
Liang (1974), a number of literature appeared considering
of decades predicted the existence of massive compact ob-
an anisotropic spherically symmetric static general relativis-
jects. A number of compact objects with very high den-
tic object. Ruderman (1972) and Canuto (1974) theoreti-
sities are discovered in the recent times (Lattimer 2010).
cally investigated compact objects and observed that a star
To describe such compact objects general theory of rela-
with matter density (ρ > 1015 gm/cc), where the nuclear
tivity is most useful. The theoretical investigation of such
interaction become relativistic in nature, are likely to be
anisotropic. It is further noted that anisotropy in fluid pres-
B.C. Paul (B) sure in a star may originate due to number of processes e.g.,
Physics Department, North Bengal University, Siliguri, the existence of a solid core, the presence of type 3A super
Darjeeling, 734013, West Bengal, India fluid etc. (Kippenhahm and Weigert 1990). Recently, Mak
e-mail: bcpaul@iucaa.ernet.in
and Harko (2004) determined the maximum mass and mass
R. Deb to radius ratio of a compact isotropic relativistic star. Ma-
IUCAA Resource Centre, Physics Department, North Bengal haraj and Maartens (1989), Bower and Liang (1974), Bayin
University, Darjeeling, 734013, India (1982) examined spherical distribution of anisotropic matter
in the framework of general relativity and derived a number
B.C. Paul
Institute of Theoretical Physics, KITPC, Chinese Academy of of solutions to understand the interior of such stars. A hand-
Sciences, Beijing 100190, China ful number of exact interior solutions in general relativity for
 Astrophys Space Sci

both the isotropic and the anisotropic compact objects have The paper is organised as follows: In Sect. 2, we set up
been reported in the literature (Delgaty and Lake 1998). the relevant field equations and its solutions. In Sect. 3,
Delgaty and Lake (1998) analysed 127 published solutions physical properties of anisotropic star is presented. In
out of which they found that only 16 of the published re- Sect. 4, we present physical analysis of stellar models with
sults satisfy all the conditions for a physically viable stellar the observational stellar mass for different model parame-
model. In the case of a compact stellar object it is essential ters. Finally in Sect. 5, we give a brief discussion.
to satisfy all the conditions outlined by Delgaty and Lake
as the EOS of the fluid of the compact dense object is not
known. 2 Field equation and solutions
The discovery of compact stellar objects, such as X-ray
pulsars, namely Her X1, millisecond pulsar SAX J1808. The Einstein’s field equation is
43658, X-ray sources, 4U 1820-30 and 4U 1728-34 are im-
portant and interesting as these are considered to be proba- 1
Rμν − gμν R = 8πG Tμν (1)
ble strange star candidates. The existence of such character- 2
istics compact objects led to critical studies of stellar con- where gμν , R, Rμν and Tμν are the metric tensor, Ricci
figurations (Dey et al. 1999; Li et al. 1999; Knutsen 1988; scalar, Ricci tensor and energy momentum tensor respec-
Maharaj and Leach 1996; Mukherjee et al. 1997; Negi and tively.
Durgapal 1999; Bombaci 1997; Tikekar and Thomas 1998; We use spherically symmetric space time metric given by
Tikekar 1990; Gupta and Jassim 2000; Jotania and Tikekar  
2006; Tikekar and Jotania 2005; Finch and Skea 1989). ds 2 = eν(r) dr 2 − eμ(r) dr 2 + r 2 dΩ 2 (2)
However, the equation of state (EOS) of matter inside a su-
perdense strange star at present is not known. In this con- where ν(r) and μ(r) are unknown metric functions and
text Vaidya and Tikekar (1982) and Tikekar (1990) have dΩ 2 = dθ 2 + sin2 θ dφ 2 . We assume an anisotropic pres-
shown that in the absence of definite information about the sure distribution for the fluid content of the star. The energy
EOS of matter content of stellar configuration, an alterna- momentum tensor for such fluid in equilibrium is given by
tive approach of prescribing a suitable ansatz for the ge-
ometry of the interior physical 3-space of the configura- Tμμ = diag(ρ, −pr , −pt , −pt ) (3)
tion leads to simple easily accessible physically viable mod-
where ρ is the energy-density, pr is the radial pressure, pt
els of such stars. Relativistic models of superdense stars
is the tangential pressure and = pt − pr is the measure
based on different solutions of Einstein’s field equations
of pressure anisotropy (Steiner et al. 2010). Using the space
obtained by Vaidya-Tikekar approach of assigning differ-
time metric given by Eq. (2), the Einstein’s field equation (1)
ent geometries with physical 3-spaces of such objects are
reduces to the following equations:
reported in the literature (Knutsen 1988; Mukherjee et al.
 
1997; Tikekar and Thomas 1998; Jotania and Tikekar 2006;
−μ  μ 2 2μ
Tikekar and Jotania 2005). Pant and Sah (1985) obtained a ρ = −e μ + + , (4)
4 r
class of relativistic static non-singular analytic solutions in  2 
isotropic form with a spherically symmetric distribution of −μ μ μ μ ν  ν 
pr = e + + + , (5)
matter in a static space time. Pant and Sah solution is found 4 r 2 r
to lead to a physically viable causal model of neutron star   
−μ μ ν  ν  2 μ ν
with a maximum mass of 4M . Recently, Deb et al. (2012) pt = e + + + + . (6)
2 2 4 2r 2r
obtained a class of compact stellar models using Pant and
Sah solution in the case of spherically symmetric space time. Using Eqs. (5) and (6) along with the definition of anisotropy
In this paper we obtain a class of new relativistic solutions of fluid we obtain
which accommodate anisotropic stars possessing mass rele-   
vant for neutron stars. Usually a stellar model is obtained μ ν  ν  2 μ 2 μ ν μ ν 
+ + − − − − = eμ . (7)
using Einstein field equation for a known EOS and then 2 2 4 4 2r 2r 2
the geometry of the space-time is determined. In this paper
Equation (7) is a second-order differential equation which
we follow an alternative approach (Synge approach) by first
admits a class of new solution with anisotropic fluid distri-
making an ad hoc choice of the geometry and then explore
bution given by
the EOS for matter. A class of new relativistic solutions are
discussed here which accommodate anisotropic star in hy-  2 
ν 1 − kα + n Rr 2 μ (1 + kα)2
drostatic equilibrium having mass and radius relevant for e =A
2 , e2 = (8)
1 + kα 1+ r2
neutron stars (Steiner et al. 2010). R2
Astrophys Space Sci

where (n = 0) and determine the values of R, λ, k and A for a vi-

 able stellar model as permitted by the field equation. The

 1+ r2
2
exterior Schwarzschild line element is given by
α(r) =  R
(9)
2
1 + λ Rr 2    
2m 2m −1 2
ds 2 = 1 − dt 2 − 1 − dr
ro ro
with R, λ, k, A and n are arbitrary constants. It may be
 
pointed out here that n = 0 corresponds to a solution for − ro2 dθ 2 + sin2 θ dφ 2 (13)
isotropic stellar model obtained by Pant and Sah (1985).
We consider here non-zero n to obtain an anisotropic stel- where m represents the mass of spherical object. The
lar model in hydrostatic equilibrium. Equation (8) permits above metric can be expressed in an isotropic metric form
a relation amongst the parameters which is useful for ob- (Narlikar 2010)
taining stellar models. The allowed values of the parameters  2  
are determined using the physical conditions imposed on the 1− m
m 4 2 
ds 2 = 2r
dt 2 − 1 + dr + r 2 dΩ 2 (14)
stellar solution for a viable stellar model. The geometry of 1+ m
2r 2r
the 3-space in the above metric is given by
using the transformation ro = r(1 + 2r m 2
) where ro is the
dr 2 + r 2 (dθ 2 + sin2 θ dφ 2 ) radius of the compact object. This form of the Schwarzschild
dσ 2 = . (10) metric will be used here to match at the boundary with the
r2
1+ R2 interior metric given by Eq. (11) at the boundary.
It corresponds to a 3 sphere immersed in a 4-dimensional
Euclidean space. Accordingly the geometry of physical
space obtained at the t = constant section of the space time 3 Physical properties of anisotropic compact star
is given by
The solution given by Eq. (8) is useful to study physical fea-
 2 2
1 − kα + n Rr 2 tures of compact objects with anisotropy in a general way
ds 2 = A2 dt 2 which are outlined as follows:
1 + kα
(1 + kα)4 2  
(1) In this model, a positive central density ρ is obtained for
− dr + r 2 dθ 2 + sin2 θ dφ 2 . (11) λ < k4 + 1.
r2 2
(1 + R 2 ) (2) At the boundary of the star (r = b), the interior so-
lution should be matched with the isotropic form of
The pressure anisotropy term becomes
Schwarzschild exterior solution, i.e.,
2 2
nα Rr 2 (8α(1 + λ Rr 2 )3 + k 2 αX + Y )    2
1− m
μ m
= 2 2
(12) ν
e |r=b =
2 2b
; e |r=b = 1 +
2 (15)
(1 + λ Rr 2 )2 (1 + kα)6 (1 + n Rr 2 − kα) 1+ m
2b 2b

6 4 (3) The physical radius of a star (ro ), is determined knowing

where X = 8λ2 Rr 6 + 4λ(1 + 5λ) Rr 4 + 12λ − 4, Y = (15λ2 +
2 6 4 the radial distance where the pressure at the boundary
10λ − 1) Rr 2 + k(4 + 12λ + 16λ2 ) Rr 6 + 4λ(5 + 7λ) Rr 4 + vanishes (i.e., p(r) = 0 at r = b). The physical radius is
2
(15λ2 + 26λ + 7) Rr 2 . The geometry of 3-space obtained at related to the radial distance (r = b) through the relation
t = constant section of the space time metric (11) given ro = b(1 + 2bm 2
) (Narlikar 2010).
m
above incorporates a deviation in a spherical 3 space, k is (4) The ratio b is determined using Eqs. (8) and (14), which
a geometrical parameter measuring inhomogeneity of the is given by
physical space and n is related to the anisotropy. For k = 0  
and n = 0, the space time metric (11) degenerates into that m 1 − kα + ny 2
= 2 ± 2A  (16)
of Einstein’s static universe which is filled with matter of b 1 + y2
uniform density. The solution obtained by Pant and Sah cor-
responds to the case when n = 0 and k = 0 (Pant and Sah where y = Rb . In the above we consider only nega-
1985). It reduces to a generalization of the Buchdahl so- tive sign as it corresponds to a physically viable stellar
lution, the physical 3-space associated with which has the model.
same feature. However, for λ > 0, the solution corresponds (5) The density inside the star should be positive i.e., ρ > 0.
to finite boundary models. In this paper we study physical (6) Inside the star the stellar model should satisfy the con-
properties of compact objects filled with anisotropic fluid dition, dp
dρ < 1 for the sound propagation to be causal.
 Astrophys Space Sci

The usual boundary conditions are that the first and sec-
ond fundamental forms required to be continuous across the
boundary r = b. We determine n, k, λ and A which satisfy
the criteria for a viable stellar model outlined above. As the
field equations are highly non-linear and intractable to ob-
tain a known functional relation between pressure and den-
sity we adopt numerical technique. Imposing the condition
that the pressure at the boundary vanishes, we determine y
from Eq. (5). The square of the acoustic speed dp dρ becomes:
√ √
dp α(1 + k α)(A + √B
α
+ C + D)
=− (17)
dρ E
where Fig. 1 Radial variation of pressure for different k with n = 0.60,
  5 λ = 1.9999 and A = 2. Red line for k = 0.55, blue line for k = 0.5
A = −4 −1 + n + n2 + 2n2 r 2 + nr 4 1 + r 2 λ and dashed line for k = 0.4
 4    
+ 2k 4 1 + r 2 λ −1 + 3 3 + 2r 2 λ
 3  
B = 2k 3 1 + r 2 1 + r 2 (λ − 1)λ
  
+ n 1 + 1 + 4r 2 + 2r 4 λ − r 4 λ2
 3 
+ r 4 3 + 4r 2 + 2r 4 λ ,
√  3   
C = k α 1 + r 2 λ −2 −1 + λ − r 2 λ + r 2 λ2

− n −6 + 10λ + 8r 6 λ + 4r 8 λ2
   
+ r 2 −21 + 34λ − 5λ2 + r 4 −5 + 12λ + λ2

+ n2 −8 + 4r 8 (λ − 1)λ − 2r 2 (9 + 7λ)
  
+ r 6 5 − 26λ + 5λ2 + r 4 3 − 52λ + 9λ2 ,
      Fig. 2 Radial variation of density for different k with n = 0.60, λ = 2
D = k 2 1 + r 2 1 + r 2 λ −2 5 + 4r 2 − 7 − 4r 4 λ and A = 2. Blue line for k = 0.40, dashed line for k = 0.50 and red
     line for k = 0.55
+ 6 + 8r 2 + 19r 4 + 2r 6 λ2 + r 4 −3 + 2r 2 λ3
   
+ n2 1 + r 2 4r 8 (λ − 1)λ2 − 4 − 2r 2 (3 + 5λ) + r 2 5 + 6r 2 + 27r 4 + 2r 6 λ3
      
+ r 6 λ 3λ2 − 5 − 6λ − r 4 1 + 16λ + 3λ2 + 4r 8 − 2r 6 λ4 .

+ n 12 − 8λ + 12r 8 λ3 + 4r 1 0λ3 We study the physical properties of anisotropic com-
    pact objects numerically and follow the following steps. For
+ r 2 42λ − 1 − 29λ2 + r 6 λ 5 + 2λ + 9λ2 given values of λ and k, the size of the star is estimated from
  the condition that pressure vanishes at the boundary which
+ r 4 25λ − 3 + 3λ2 − 9λ3 ,
follows from Eq. (5). The mass to radius mb of a star is de-
 √ 2  √  5
E = 6 1 + nr 2 − k α 2 α 1 + r 2 λ termined from Eqs. (8) and (14), which in turn determines
 4     the physical size of the compact star (ro ). For a given set
+ k 3 1 + r 2 λ −1 + 3 + 2r 2 λ of values of the parameters λ, A, k, n, and the mass (m),
 √    the radius of an anisotropic compact object is obtained in
+ 2k 2 1 + r 2 α 2 + 3r 2 − 3 − 2r 4 λ
terms of the model parameter R. Thus for a known mass of
   
+ 4 + 5r 2 + 13r 4 λ2 + r 2 4 + 7r 2 + 13r 4 + 2r 6 λ3 a compact star R is determined which in turn determines the
   corresponding radius.
+ r 6 r 2 − 1 λ4 The radial variation of pressure and density of anisotropic
    compact objects for different parameters are plotted in
+ k 1 + r 2 6 + −5 + 16r 2 − 3r 4 λ
  Figs. 1–4. In Figs. 1 and 2, variation of radial pressure is
+ 5 + 3r 2 + 33r 4 − r 6 λ2 plotted for a given set of values of A, n and λ for differ-
Astrophys Space Sci

Fig. 3 Radial variation of pressure for different n with k = 0.31, λ = 2 Fig. 5 Variation of radial pressure for different λ with k = 0.641,
and A = 2. Blue line for n = 1.22, dashed line for n = 0.95 and red line n = 0.60 and A = 2. Blue line for λ = 1.0, dashed line for λ = 1.5
for n = 0.8 and thick line for λ = 1.9999

Fig. 4 Radial variation of density for different λ with k = 0.641, Fig. 6 Radial variation of transverse and radial pressure with λ = 10,
n = 0.60 and A = 2. Blue line for λ = 1.9999, and red line for λ = 1.1 n = 0.8, A = 2 and k = 0.31. Blue line for radial pressure and red line
for transverse pressure
ent k. It is noted that the pressure increases with an increase
in k whereas the density decreases. The central density also
found to increases with decrease in the value of k. The ra-
dial variation of pressure with n is plotted in Fig. 3. It is
evident that although the pressure inside the star decreases
with an increase in n, the density remains invariant. The ra-
dial variation of density with λ is plotted in Fig. 4. Both
the density and the pressure are found to increase with an
increase in λ value showing an increase in corresponding
central density. But the difference between central density
with that of surface density reduces with increase in λ. It
is noted that both the pressure and the density are indepen-
dent on A. The radial variation of pressure for different λ is
shown in Fig. 5, it is evident that the decrease in radial pres-
Fig. 7 Radial variation of dp
dρ with different n for k = 0.61669, λ = 2,
sure near the boundary is sharp for higher values of λ. The
A = 2. Red line for n = 0.4, dashed line for n = 0.3 and blue line for
variation of both radial and transverse pressure are plotted in n = 0.2
Fig. 6, it is noted that the value of transverse pressure at the
boundary is more than that of radial pressure although they ues. It is found that dp
dρ is positive inside the star and obeys
begin with same central pressure at the centre. Figure 7 is a causality condition. It shows stability of the stellar models.
plot of squared speed of sound i.e., dp dρ with different n val- To check the strong energy condition we plot the radial vari-
 Astrophys Space Sci

Fig. 8 Variations of parameter n with radial distant r (in km) for SEC Fig. 11 Radial variations of SEC i.e., (ρ − 3p) with different λ for
(ρ − 3p). Blue line for n = 0.7 and red line for n = 1 k = 0.641, n = 0.65 and A = 5. Dashed line for λ = 2, blue line for
λ = 1.8 and thick line for λ = 1.7

Fig. 9 Variations of parameter k with radial distance r (in km) for

SEC (ρ − 3p). Blue line for k = 0.4 and red line for k = 0.50 Fig. 12 Radial variations of SEC i.e., (ρ − 3p) with different k for
n = 0.65, λ = 1.8 and A = 5. Blue line for k = 0.641 and thick line for
k = 0.6

region near the center of the star where SEC is not obeyed.
It is further noted that the radius of that region increases
with an increase in the parameter values n, k and λ. This is
interesting as two distinct regions are found to exist in the
compact objects corresponding to the solution obtained here
which may be useful for constructing a core-envelope model
of the star. The radial variation of anisotropy inside the star
for different n values are plotted in Fig. 13. It is evident that
the anisotropy of a star increases with increase in value of
the parameter n.
The reduced size of a star (b̃ = Rb ) is tabulated for differ-
Fig. 10 Radial variations of SEC i.e., (ρ − 3p) with different n for ent n and λ values in Table 1. It is evident that for a given λ
k = 0.641, λ = 2 and A = 2. Dashed line for n = 0.8, red line for if one increases n the reduced size of a star increases. On the
n = 0.7 and thick line for n = 0.67
other hand for a isotropic star as λ increases for a given n the
reduced size increases but in the case of an anisotropic star
ation of (ρ − 3p) for different values of n, λ and k values in the reduced size decreases in this case as one increases λ. In
Figs. 8–12. In Figs. 8 and 9 it is observed the SEC is obeyed. Table 2 reduced size of a star is tabulated for different k and
But from Figs. 10, 11 and 12, it is noted that there exist a λ values. It is evident that for a given λ as we increase k the
Astrophys Space Sci

Table 3 Variation of size of a star with m

b for k = 0.641, n = 0.697,
λ = 1.9999 and A = 2
m
b R in km Radius (ro in km)

0.3 8.169 8.311

0.28 8.574 8.828
0.26 9.048 9.424
0.25 9.317 9.757
0.20 11.096 11.925

ρ(b)
Table 4 Density profile ρ(0) of compact objects

ρ(b) ρ(b) ρ(b)

ρ(0) ρ(0) ρ(0)
Fig. 13 Radial variations of anisotropic parameter for different n.
Blue line for n = 0.7 and red line for n = 1 λ n = 0.697 n = 0.60 n = 0.50
k = 0.641 k = 0.63 k = 0.52
Table 1 Variation of b̃ = b
R for given n = 0, 0.55, 0.58, 0.60 with dif-
ferent λ 1 0.449 0.508 0.633
1.1 0.447 0.505 0.619
λ n=0 n = 0.55 n = 0.58 n = 0.60
1.2 0.444 0.502 0.607
4 0 0.333416 0.342962 0.34913 1.3 0.444 0.498 0.597
4.1 0.051703 0.332378 0.341709 0.347747 1.4 0.436 0.494 0.589
5 0.140301 0.323293 0.331121 0.336233 1.5 0.432 0.490 0.580
6 0.172643 0.314019 0.32075 0.325177 1.7 0.429 0.475 0.565
7 0.188117 0.305681 0.311647 0.31559 1.9999 0.409 0.466 0.545
8 0.196376 0.298192 0.303591 0.307174
9 0.200904 0.291437 0.296399 0.299702
ter R. To obtain stellar models we consider compact objects
10 0.203298 0.285311 0.289924 0.293002
with observed mass (Lattimer 2010) which determines the
radius of the star for different values of R with given set
Table 2 Variation of reduced size b̃ = b
with λ for different k of values of n, A, k and λ. It is known that the radius of
R
a neutron star is ≤(11–14) km (Steiner et al. 2010), there-
λ k = 0.60 k = 0.62 k = 0.63 fore, to obtain a viable stellar model for compact object the
upper bound of the size is fixed accordingly. In the next sec-
1 0.472227 0.497719 0.509691 tion we consider three stars whose masses (Dey et al. 1999;
2.5 0.423942 0.436794 0.442986 Li et al. 1999; Lattimer 2010) are known from observations
3 0.410826 0.422278 0.427808 to explore suitability of the solutions considered here.
4.5 0.38013 0.389138 0.393505
5.6 0.363177 0.371156 0.375029 Model 1 For X-ray pulsar Her X-1 (Lattimer 2010; Dey
6.1 0.356535 0.364154 0.367855 et al. 1999; Sharma and Maharaj 2007) characterized by
7.5 0.340542 0.347378 0.350702 mass m = 1.47M , where M = the solar mass we ob-
8.3 0.332752 0.339243 0.342401 tain a stellar configuration with radius ro = 8.31106 km, for
9.5 0.322458 0.328523 0.331477 R = 8.169 km. The compactness of the star in this case is
10 0.318578 0.324491 0.327371 u = rmo = 0.30. The ratio of density at the boundary to that
at the centre for the star is 0.128 which is satisfied for the
parameters λ = 1.9999, k = 0.641, A = 2 and n = 0.697. It
reduced size increases. However for a given k on increasing is found that compactness factor u = 0.2 accommodates a
λ the reduced size of the compact object decreases. star of radius ro = 11.925 km. However, stellar models with
different size and compactness factor with the above mass
permitted here are tabulated in Table 3. It is also observed
4 Physical analysis that as the compactness factor increases size of the star de-
creases. It is evident from the second column of Table 4 that
For a given mass of a compact star, it is possible to estimate increase in λ value which is related to geometry lead to a
the corresponding radius in terms of the geometric parame- decrease in the density profile of the compact object.
 Astrophys Space Sci

Table 5 Variation of size of a star with m

b for k = 0.63, n = 0.60, Table 7 Variation of radial pressure with density for different stellar
λ = 1.1 and A = 2 models
m Star with mass Radial pressure
b R in km Radius (ro in km)

0.3 8.169 4.071 HER X-1

0.28 8.574 4.324 1.47M (i) pr = 1.207ρ − 8.477
0.26 9.048 4.616 (ii) pr = 0.130ρ 2 − 1.032ρ + 0.980
0.24 9.317 4.956
J1518+4904
0.22 11.096 5.358
0.72M (i) pr = 1.041ρ − 7.607
(ii) pr = 0.104ρ 2 − 0.794ρ + 0.350
Table 6 Variation of size of a star with m
b for k = 0.63, n = 0.60, B1855+09(g)
λ = 1.1 and A = 2
1.6M (i) pr = 0.602ρ − 5.316
m
b R in km Radius (ro in km) (ii) pr = 0.043ρ 2 − 0.252ρ − 1.151

0.3 8.169 9.047

0.28 8.574 9.609
0.26 9.048 9.818
0.24 9.317 11.013
0.22 11.096 11.907

Model 2 For X-ray pulsar J1518+4904 (Lattimer 2010;

Dey et al. 1999; Sharma and Maharaj 2007) characterized
by mass m = 0.72 M , where M = the solar mass it is
noted that it permits a star with radius ro = 4.071 km, for
R = 8.169 km. The compactness of the star in this case is
u = rmo = 0.30. The ratio of its density at the boundary to
that at the centre is 0.142 which is obtained for values of the
parameters λ = 1.1, k = 0.641, A = 2 and n = 0.60. It is
noted that a star of radius ro = 12.332 km. results with same
mass having lower compactness factor u = 0.09. It is evi-
dent from Table 5 that in this case also as the compactness
Fig. 14 Plot of with positive n and radial distance with λ = 2 and
increases radius of the star decreases. The variation of den- k = 0.4
sity profile with λ is tabulated in the 3rd column of Table 4.
It is found that the density profile decreases as λ increases.
5 Discussion
Model 3 In this case we consider a compact object B1855+
09(g) (Lattimer 2010; Dey et al. 1999; Sharma and Maharaj In this paper, we present a class of new general relativistic
2007) characterized by mass m = 1.6M , where M = the solutions for a class of compact stars which are in hydro-
solar mass, it is noted that its radius is ro = 9.047 km, for static equilibrium considering an anisotropic interior fluid
R = 8.169 km with compactness factor u = rmo = 0.30. The distribution. The radial pressure and the tangential pressure
ratio of density at the boundary to that at the centre for the are different, variations of the pressures are determined. As
star is 0.187 which is found for the values of the parameters the EOS of the fluid inside a neutron star is not known so
λ = 1, k = 0.52, A = 2 and n = 0.50. It is noted that a star we adopt here numerical technique to determine a suitable
of compactness factor u = 0.22 accommodates a star with EOS of the matter content inside the star for a given space-
radius ro = 11.907 km. For the same mass considered here time geometry. The interior space-time geometry considered
it is possible to obtain a class of stellar models with differ- here is characterized by five geometrical parameters namely,
ent size and compactness which are tabulated in Table 6. We λ, R, k, A and n which are used to obtain different stellar
note that size of the star decreases with the increase in com- models. For n = 0, the relativistic solution reduces to that
pactness. The variation of density profile with λ is displayed considered in by Pant and Sah (1985) and Deb et al. (2012).
in 4th column of Table 4. It is evident the density profile The permitted values of the unknown parameters are deter-
decreases as λ increases. mined from the following conditions: (a) metric matching
Astrophys Space Sci

at the boundary, (b) dp dρ < 1, (c) pressure at the boundary is case permits a linear EOS, it does not accommodate a star
zero i.e., p = 0 and (d) the positivity of density. satisfying MIT bag model (Chattopadhyay et al. 2012). It is
We note the following: (i) In Figs. 1 and 2, the radial vari- also noted that the stellar models obtained here allows neu-
ation of pressure and density are plotted for different k for tron stars with mass less than 2M for an anisotropic fluid
a given set of values of λ, A, n and k. The radial pressure distribution. The observed maximum mass of a neutron star
increase with an increase in k but the density is found to de- is 2M , therefore the stellar models obtained here may be
crease. The central density of the compact object increases relevant for compact objects with nuclear density. A physi-
if k decreases. (ii) In Fig. 3, variation of radial pressure in- cally realistic stellar model up to radius ∼(11–14) km may
side the star is plotted for different n. We note that pressure be permitted here with the relativistic solutions accommo-
decreases as n increases, however, density does not change. dating less compactness (Steiner et al. 2010). (x) We plot
(iii) In Figs. 4 and 5, radial variation of density and pressure radial variation of the anisotropy measurement in pressure
are plotted for different λ. We note that both the pressure i.e., in Fig. 14 with n. It is evident from the 3D plot that
and the density increases with an increase in λ. The central → 0 when n → 0 which leads to isotropic pressure case.
density is found to increase with an increase in λ in this case. For n > 0, the difference in tangential pressure to radial
The radial variation of pressure for different λ is shown in pressure initially increases which however attains a constant
Fig. 5. It is noted that the radial pressure near the boundary value for large n. It is also noted from Eq. (12) that = 0
decreases sharply for higher values of λ. when r = 0 i.e., in the stellar model both the tangential and
(iv) It is evident from Figs. 8 and 9 that SEC is obeyed radial pressure are equal at the center.
inside the stars for the configurations considered in the two
cases. In Figs. 10–12 we obtain an interesting result where Acknowledgements BCP would like to acknowledge TWAS-UNES-
CO for supporting a visit to Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese
SEC is violated. The size of the region near the centre is fur- Academy of Sciences, Beijing where the work is completed. BCP
ther increases with an increase in the value of one of the would like to thank University Grants Commission, New Delhi for
parameters, n, k and λ keeping the other parameters un- financial support (Grant no. F.42-783/2013(SR)). RD is also thankful
to UGC, New Delhi and Physics Department, North Bengal University
changed. Thus the solution obtained here may be useful to
for providing research facilities. The authors would like to thank the
construct a core-envelope model of a compact star which referee for constructive suggestions.
will be discussed elsewhere. (v) In Fig. 13, the radial vari-
ation of anisotropy inside the star for different n values are
plotted. The increase in value of n is related to increase in References
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