We consider the linear equation of state for matter distributions that may be applied to strange stars with quark matter. In our general approach the compact relativistic body allows for anisotropic pressures in the presence of the electromagnetic field. New exact solutions are found to the Einstein–Maxwell system. A particular case is shown to be regular at the stellar centre. In the isotropic limit we regain the general relativistic isothermal Universe. We show that the mass corresponds to the values obtained previously for quark stars when anisotropy and charge are present.

We study static spherically symmetric spacetime to describe compact objects with anisotropic matter distribution. We express the system of Einstein field equations as a new system of differential equations using a coordinate transformation, and then write the system in another form with polytropic equation of state and obtain two classes of exact models. The models satisfy all major physical features expected in a realistic star. For polytropic index $n = 2$, we obtain expressions for mass and density which are comparable with the reported experimental observations.

We investigate the role played by the cosmological constant during gravitational collapse of a radiating star with vanishing Weyl stresses in the interior. We highlight the role played by the cosmological constant during the latter stages of collapse. The evolution of the temperature of the collapsing body is studied by employing causal heat transport equation. We show that the inclusion of the cosmological constant enhances the temperature within the stellar core.

Static spherically symmetric space-time is studied to describe dense compact star with quark matter within the framework of MIT Bag Model. The system of Einstein’s field equations for anisotropic matter is expressed as a new system of differential equations using transformations and it is solved for a particular general form of gravitational potential with parameters. For a particular parameter, as an example, it is shown that the model satisfies all major physical features expected in a realistic star. The generated model also smoothly matches with the Schwarzschild exterior metric at the boundary of the star. It is shown that the generated solutions are useful to model strange quark stars.

We study static spherically symmetric space-time to describe relativistic compact objects with anisotropic matter distribution and derive two classes of exact models to the Einstein–Maxwell system with a modified Van derWaals equation of state. We motivate a Van derWaals-type equation of state to physically signify a high-density domain of quark matter, and the generated exact solutions are shown to contain several classes of exact models reported previously that correspond to various physical scenarios. Geometrical analysis shows that the physical quantities are well behaved so that these models may be used to describe anisotropic charged compact spheres.