Compact boson stars

We consider compact boson stars that arise for a V-shaped scalar field potential. They represent a one parameter family of solutions of the scaled Einstein-signum-Gordon equations. We analyze the physical properties of these solutions and determine their domain of existence. Along their physically relevant branch emerging from the compact Q-ball solution, their mass increases with increasing radius. Employing arguments from catastrophe theory we argue that this branch is stable, until the maximal value of the mass is reached. There the mass and size are on the order of magnitude of the Schwarzschild limit, and thus the spiraling respectively oscillating behaviour, well known for compact stars, sets in. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.