Properties of strange quark matter objects with two types of surface treatments

We study strange quark matter (SQM) objects ranging from strangelets to strange stars based on our recently proposed unified description. The important interface effects are investigated by adopting a constant surface tension as well as the multiple reflection expansion (MRE) method. It is shown that the properties of SQM objects are strongly affected by the different surface treatments. In the former case, strangelets are more compact, an electric dipole is predicted on the surface of the quark part, and a local minimum of the energy per baryon appears for unusually small values of the surface tension. In the latter case, on the other hand, an electric potential well is formed, and the energy per baryon decreases monotonically with the SQM object's size. It is found that the MRE scenario coincides with the constant-surface-tension one if realistic values are considered. However, the effects of quark depletion on the quark-vacuum interface cannot be solely described by a constant surface tension. Thus we conclude that the MRE scenario is more reasonable.