Quark stars in massive gravity might be candidates for the mass gap objects

We have investigated the structural properties of strange quark stars (SQSs) in a modified theory of gravity known as massive gravity. In order to obtain the equation of state (EOS) of strange quark matter, we have employed a modified version of the Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model (MNJL) which includes a combination of NJL Lagrangian and its Fierz transformation by using weighting factors ( 1 - α ) and α . Additionally, we have also calculated dimensionless tidal deformability ( Λ ) in massive gravity. To constrain the allowed values of the parameters appearing in massive gravity, we have imposed the condition Λ 1.4 M ⊙ ≲ 580 . Notably, in the MNJL model, the value of α varies between zero and one. As α increases, the EOS becomes stiffer, and the value of Λ increases accordingly. We have demonstrated that by softening the EOS with increasing the bag constant, one can obtain objects in massive gravity that not only satisfy the constraint Λ 1.4 M ⊙ ≲ 580 , but they also fall within the unknown mass gap region ( 2.5 M ⊙ - 5 M ⊙ ) . To establish that the obtained objects in this region are not black holes, we have calculated Schwarzschild radius, compactness, and Λ M TOV in massive gravity.