Compact anisotropic spheres with prescribed energy density (Q2487219)

Some new spherically symmetric static solutions to Einstein's field equation for a non-perfect fluid are established that can be matched to the exterior Schwarzschild vacuum solution. The solutions are anisotropic in the sense that the radial pressure is different from the tangential (or angular) pressure. The solutions are found by making a particular ansatz for the radial dependence of the energy density and of the radial pressure. Possible applications to neutron stars and quasi-stellar objects are briefly discussed.