Observational constraints on f(Q,T) gravity from the mass-radius relation and stability of compact stars

Abstract: In this investigation we examine the astrophysical consequences of the influence of pressure anisotropy on the physical properties of observed pulsars within the background of $f(Q,T)$ gravity by choosing a specific form $f(Q, T)=\psi_1\, Q + \psi_2 T$, where $\psi_1$ and $\psi_2$ are the model parameters. Initially, we solve the modified field equations for anisotropic stellar configurations by assuming the physically valid metric potential along with anisotropic function for the distribution of the interior matter. We test the derived gravitational model subject to various stability conditions to confirm physically existence of compact stars within the $f(Q,T)$ gravity context. We analyze thoroughly the influence of anisotropy on the effective density, pressure and mass-radius relation of the stars. The present inspection of the model implies that the current gravitational models are non-singular and able to justify for the occurrence of observed pulsars with masses exceeding 2 $M_{\odot}$ as well as masses fall in the {\em mass gap} regime, in particular merger events like GW190814. The predicted radii for the observed stars of different masses fall within the range {10.5 km, 14.5 km} for $\psi_1\leq 1.05$ whereas the radius of PSR J074+6620 is predicted to fall within {13.09 km, 14.66 km} which is in agreement with the predicted radii range {11.79 km, 15.01 km} as can be found in the recent literature.