2023ApJ...950..129N

Millisecond pulsars are the perfect testable to examine potential matter-geometry coupling and its physical consequences in the context of the recent Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer discoveries. We apply the field equations of modified gravity, f(R, T) = R + αT, to a spherically symmetric spacetime, where R is the Ricci scalar, α is a dimensional parameter, and T is the matter of the geometry. Five unknown functions are present in the output system of differential equations, which consists of three equations. To close the system, we make explicit assumptions about the anisotropy and the radial metric potential, g_rr. We then solve the output differential equations and derive the explicit forms of the components of the energy-momentum tensor, i.e., density, radial, and tangential pressures. We look into the possibility that all of the physical parameters in the star can be reexpressed in terms of α and the compactness parameters, C = 2 GM Rc^–2. We show that, for a given mass, the size permitted by Einstein's general relativity is less due to the matter-geometry coupling in f(R, T). The validity of the hypothesis was validated by observations from an extra 21 pulsars. To achieve a surface density that is compatible with a neutron core at nuclear saturation density, the mass-radius curve enables masses up to 3.35M_⊙. We emphasize that although there is no assumption of an equation of state, the model fits well with a linear behavior. When comparing the surface densities of these 20 pulsars, we divided them into three groups. We show that these three groups are compatible with neutron cores.