  The gap caused by a strong electric field between the quark surface and
nuclear crust of a strange star is studied in an improved model including
gravity and pressure as well as electrostatic forces. The transition from gap
to crust is followed in detail. The properties of the gap are investigated for
a wide range of parameters assuming both color-flavor locked and non
color-flavor locked strange star cores. The maximally allowed crust density is
generally lower than that of neutron drip. Finite temperature is shown to
increase the gap width, but the effect is significant only at extreme
temperatures. Analytical approximations are derived and shown to provide useful
fits to the numerical results.

Astrophysics;High Energy Physics - Phenomenology;Nuclear Theory