Testing the QGP Star Hypothesis: The oMEGACat BH-2 System as a Candidate Color-Superconducting Quark-Gluon Plasma Star
Abstract
The recent discovery of a long-period binary system in the globular cluster ω Centauri, oMEGACat BH-2 \citep{Whitaker2026}, provides an unprecedented opportunity to probe the true nature of compact dark objects. The system's massive, dark companion has been inferred to have a mass of 4.46−1.01+1.22 M⊙, which places it in the ``mass gap'' between neutron stars and the canonical stellar-mass black holes. In this Letter, we explore the hypothesis that the oMEGACat BH-2 companion is not a classical black hole, but a stable, self-bound Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) star, as described by recent general relativistic models that incorporate Nonlinear Electrodynamics (NLED) and the asymptotic freedom of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) \citep{Mosquera2025}. We compare the inferred mass of the companion with the novel Mass-Radius (M-R) relation predicted by the QGP star model. We find that the inferred mass of the ω Centauri object lies squarely within the wide mass spectrum predicted for hypermassive QGP stars ($0$ to >7 M⊙). Although this consistency is not enough for claiming evidence, it suggests that oMEGACat BH-2 may be the first observed candidate for a QGP star, representing a stable, non-singular end-state of stellar collapse. We argue that future astrometric monitoring with JWST and radio-telescopes like FAST and SKA can further constrain the oMEGACat BH-2 orbital parameters. Meanwhile, gravitational-wave follow-ups for the f and g modes by observatories like LIGO, VIRGO, KAGRA, LISA, ET and CE can be crucial for distinguishing a classical black hole from the ``gravitational eternally collapsing `kompact' object'' (\GECKO) state of our QGP star model.
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BibTeX
@misc{cuesta2026testing,
title = {{Testing the QGP Star Hypothesis: The oMEGACat BH-2 System as a Candidate Color-Superconducting Quark-Gluon Plasma Star}},
author = {Herman J. Mosquera Cuesta},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.24505},
eprint = {2608.24505},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.24505},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Testing the QGP Star Hypothesis: The oMEGACat BH-2 System as a Candidate Color-Superconducting Quark-Gluon Plasma Star
AU - Herman J. Mosquera Cuesta
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/05
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.24505
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.24505
AB - The recent discovery of a long-period binary system in the globular cluster ω Centauri, oMEGACat BH-2 \citep{Whitaker2026}, provides an unprecedented opportunity to probe the true nature of compact dark objects. The system's massive, dark companion has been inferred to have a mass of 4.46_−1.01^+1.22 M_⊙, which places it in the ``mass gap'' between neutron stars and the canonical stellar-mass black holes. In this Letter, we explore the hypothesis that the oMEGACat BH-2 companion is not a classical black hole, but a stable, self-bound Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) star, as described by recent general relativistic models that incorporate Nonlinear Electrodynamics (NLED) and the asymptotic freedom of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) \citep{Mosquera2025}. We compare the inferred mass of the companion with the novel Mass-Radius (M-R) relation predicted by the QGP star model. We find that the inferred mass of the ω Centauri object lies squarely within the wide mass spectrum predicted for hypermassive QGP stars ($0$ to >7 M_⊙). Although this consistency is not enough for claiming evidence, it suggests that oMEGACat BH-2 may be the first observed candidate for a QGP star, representing a stable, non-singular end-state of stellar collapse. We argue that future astrometric monitoring with JWST and radio-telescopes like FAST and SKA can further constrain the oMEGACat BH-2 orbital parameters. Meanwhile, gravitational-wave follow-ups for the f and g modes by observatories like LIGO, VIRGO, KAGRA, LISA, ET and CE can be crucial for distinguishing a classical black hole from the ``gravitational eternally collapsing `kompact' object'' (\GECKO) state of our QGP star model.
ER -