Neutronensterne mit weniger Masse als ein Weißer Zwerg könnten existieren, und LIGO und Virgo könnten sie finden

>larger stars don’t simply run out of fuel and collapse. They undergo cataclysmic explosions as a supernova. If such an explosion were to squeeze the central core rapidly, you might have a core of neutron matter with less than 1.4 solar masses. The question is whether it could be stable as a small neutron star. That depends on how neutron matter holds together, which is described by its [equation of state](https://briankoberlein.com/post/equations-of-state/).

Not knowing or being able to work with the equations of state, it strikes me that a neutron star under 1.4 solar masses would have small clumps of neutrons crack off the surface and radioactively break into normal elements, forming a surface layer. As the layer expands, I’d expect thermodynamic cooling so instead of a white dwarf, it would be black, after the gamma rays from radioactive decay died down.