Chinese Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics Astrophysical Quark Matter

Abstract The quark matter may have great implications in astrophysical studies, which could appear in the early Universe, in compact stars, and/or as cosmic rays. After a general review of astrophysical quark matter, the density-dominated quark matter is focused. Key words: elementary particles — dense matter — stars: neutron — early universe 1 INTRODUCTION TO QUARK MATTER Twenty years ago, a paper on astrophysical quark matter was published (Witten 1984), of which I will be in memory here. Anyway, let’s begin with the elements of particle physics. One of the most great achievements in the 20th century is the construction of the standard model in particle physics, which asserts that the material in the universe is made up of ele