EFFECTS OF STRANGE PARTICLES ON NEUTRON-STAR CORES

We show that uncertainties in the strength of interactions of hyperons among themselves and with nucleons lead to an uncertainty in the maximum allowed neutron-star mass of nearly a factor of 2, even if the properties of nuclear and neutron matter were known with infinite precision around normal nuclear density and below. The possibility of a transition to quark matter places some constraint on the strength of the hyperonic interactions. © 1990 The American Physical Society.