Threshold Temperature for Neutron-Star Emergence in a Gravitational Thermodynamic Framework

Abstract

Motivated by the entropy-functional formulation of emergent gravity, in which spacetime is endowed with a thermodynamic entropy that, upon extremization, yields the Einstein field equations, we reformulate the onset of a neutron star as a bulk gravitational-thermodynamic threshold problem. By combining the Jacobson-Padmanabhan perspective of gravity as an equation of state with Tolman redshift, Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff hydrostatics, and a bulk binding versus thermal energy balance, we derive four characteristic temperature scales for a static compact object: the Newtonian virial threshold, the redshifted threshold as observed at infinity, the degenerate-matter threshold, and the surface screen temperature.The paper supplies a mathematically expanded derivation, explicit TOV and Fermi-gas formulae, and thermodynamic consistency relations.

Figures (2)

• Figure 1: Classical virial threshold $T_{\rm vir}$ and Tolman-redshifted threshold $T_{\infty,\rm th}$ versus mass for fixed radius $R=10\,\mathrm{km}$.
• Figure 2: Comparison of the bulk threshold temperatures and the screen temperature for a $1.4M_\odot$ neutron star. The screen temperature is too small to determine the bulk emergence threshold.