Revisiting the maximum mass limit of strange stars in higher-order curvature-matter coupled gravity

Abstract: We explore the maximum mass limit of strange stars within the framework of modified gravity described by $f(\tilde{R},T)=R+\alpha R^{2}+2\beta T$, where $R$ is the Ricci scalar and $T$ denotes the trace of the energy-momentum tensor. The parameters $\alpha$ and $\beta$ characterise the contributions from higher-order curvature terms and the coupling between matter and geometry, respectively. By deriving the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations from the modified field equations and applying the MIT bag model equation of state, we obtain the corresponding mass-radius relationships for strange stars. Our results show that, for suitable choices of $\alpha$, $\beta$, and bag parameter $(B_{g})$, the maximum mass limit of strange stars exceeds their general relativistic counterpart. Specifically, our model yields a maximum mass up to $3.11~M_{\odot}$, suggesting that the lighter companion of GW190814 could plausibly be a strange star within this theoretical framework.