Influence of the nuclear equation of state on the hadron-quark phase transition in neutron stars

We study the hadron-quark phase transition in the interior of neutron stars, and examine the influence of the nuclear equation of state on the phase transition and neutron star properties. The relativistic mean field theory with several parameter sets is used to construct the nuclear equation of state, while the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model is used for the description of the deconfined quark phase. Our results show that a harder nuclear equation of state leads to an earlier onset of a mixed phase of hadronic and quark matter. We find that a massive neutron star possesses a mixed phase core, but it is not dense enough to possess a pure quark core. (authors)