 High-density core bound from TOV compactness

Let ${\rho }_0>0$ be a density threshold and let $a,\mu$ be the radius and enclosed mass where a monotonically decreasing stellar density reaches that threshold. Then $\mu \ge 4\pi {\rho }_0{a}^3/3$. A local compactness bound $\mu /a<4/9$ implies $a<(3\pi {\rho }_0{)}^{-1/2}$ and $\mu <4/(9\sqrt{3\pi {\rho }_0})$, independently of the equation of state above the threshold. A total-mass bound also requires suitable control of the known low-density envelope.