Stability analysis of charged neutron stars and Darmois junction conditions

Abstract

Abstract This research article examines the impact of $$f({\mathcal {Q}},{\mathcal {T}})$$ f ( Q , T ) theory on the geometry of charged neutron stars filled with anisotropic matter configuration. Here, $${\mathcal {Q}}$$ Q represents non-metricity and $${\mathcal {T}}$$ T denotes the trace of energy-momentum tensor. We use a particular functional form of this modified theory to reduce the system’s complexity and derive explicit relations of the energy density and pressure components. Further, we consider viable non-singular solutions to analyze the internal structure of the charged neutron stars. The unspecified parameters in the metric coefficients are evaluated through Darmois junction conditions, which ensures consistency between interior and exterior solutions of the stellar objects. These parameters are then used to explore different physical characteristics such as the behavior of energy density, pressure components, anisotropy, energy bounds, equation of state parameter, compactness and redshift function in the interior of charged neutron stars. The stability and equilibrium states of the charged stellar objects are discussed using the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff equation and the speed of sound, respectively. Our results suggest that the charged neutron stars are viable and stable in the presence of dark source terms.