Improved Treatment of Dark Matter Capture in Neutron Stars III: Nucleon and Exotic Targets

Anzuini, Filippo; Bell, Nicole F.; Busoni, Giorgio; Motta, Theo F.; Robles, Sandra; Thomas, Anthony W.; Virgato, Michael

doi:10.48550/arxiv.2108.02525

Cited by 6 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 122 publications

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“…We use Eq. 8 to calculate Capture Rates for various EFT operators listed in [4,5,7]. We report in Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…8 (see Ref. [4,5,7]), while in the intermediate mass range, 1 GeV m χ 10 5 GeV, this equation can be simplified by removing the Pauli Blocking term [1 − f FD (E n , r)] and performing some integration steps analytically, see Ref. [4,5,7].…”

Section: Dark Matter Capturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a consequence, it is natural to examine other systems in which DM interactions have observable effects. Among the alternatives is to look at the effect of DM capture in stars and compact objects such as White Dwarfs (WD) [1] and Neutron Stars (NS) [2][3][4][5][6][7]. This work is focused on the latter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Ref. [6,7], we build on these improvements by focusing on the properties of baryonic targets (neutrons, i.e. protons and hyperons) in the interior of an extremely dense neutron star.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…FIG.2: DM-nucleon threshold cross section for operators D1 (top) and D8 (bottom) for the QMC EoS family, presented in[7]. The solid line represents σ th , computed assuming the NS configuration QMC-2.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Capture of Dark Matter in Neutron Stars

Busoni¹

2022

Preprint

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The extreme conditions in Neutron Stars make them ideal test facilities for fundamental interactions. A Neutron Star can capture Dark Matter via scattering. As a result of the scattering, Dark Matter kinetic energy is transferred to the star. An observational consequence of this can be the warming of old neutron stars to near-infrared temperatures. Different approximations or simplifications have been applied to previous analyses of the capture process. In this article, we summarise a significantly improved treatment of Dark Matter capture, which properly accounts for all relevant physical effects over a wide range of Dark Matter masses. Among them are gravitational focusing, a fully relativistic scattering treatment, Pauli blocking, neutron star opacity and multiple scattering effects. This paper cites general expressions that allow the capture rate to be computed numerically, and simplified expressions for particular types of interactions or mass regimes, which greatly increase the efficiency of computation. As a result of our method, we are able to model the scattering of Dark Matter from any neutron star constituent as well as the capture of Dark Matter in other compact objects. Our results are applied to scattering of Dark Matter from neutrons, protons, leptons and exotic baryons. For leptonic targets, we find that a relativistic description is essential. In our analysis of the capture of Dark Matter in Neutron Stars, we include two important effects that are generally ignored by most studies. Because the scattering of Dark Matter with nucleons in the star exhibits large momentum transfers, the nucleon structure must be considered via momentum-dependent hadronic form factors. Moreover, because of the extreme densities of matter inside Neutron Stars, we should consider nucleon interactions instead of assuming all nucleons are a perfect Fermi gas. Taking into account these effects results in a decrease of up to three orders of magnitude in the dark matter capture rate.The potential Neutron Star sensitivity to DM-lepton scattering cross sections is much greater than electron-recoil experiments, particularly in the sub-GeV regime, with a sensitivity to sub-MeV DM well beyond the reach of future terrestrial experiments. We also present results for DM-Baryon scatterings in Neutron Stars, where the sensitivity is expected to exceed that of current DD experiments for spin-dependent cases across the entire mass range, and for spin-independent cases across the high and low mass range.

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“…We use Eq. 8 to calculate Capture Rates for various EFT operators listed in [4,5,7]. We report in Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dark Matter Capturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Ref. [6,7], we build on these improvements by focusing on the properties of baryonic targets (neutrons, i.e. protons and hyperons) in the interior of an extremely dense neutron star.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Capture of Dark Matter in Neutron Stars

Busoni¹

2022

Preprint

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Revisiting constraints on asymmetric dark matter from collapse in white dwarf stars

2022

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The runaway collapse phase of a small dark matter cluster inside a white dwarf star encompasses a reversible stage, where heat can be transferred back and forth between nuclear and dark matter. Induced nuclear burning phases are stable and early carbon depletion undermines previous claims of type Ia supernova ignition. Instead, mini black holes are formed at the center of the star that either evaporate or accrete stellar material until a macroscopic sub-Chandrasekhar-mass black hole is formed. In the latter case, a 0.1 to 1 second lasting electromagnetic transient signal can be detected upon ejection of the white dwarf's potential magnetic field. Binary systems that transmute to black holes and subsequently merge emit gravitational waves. Advanced LIGO should detect one such sub-Chandrasekhar binary black hole inspiral per year, while future Einstein telescope-like facilities will detect thousands per year. The effective spin parameter distribution is peaked at 0.2 and permits to disentangle from primordial sub-Chandrasekhar black holes. Such signatures are compatible with current direct detection constraints, as well as with neutron star constraints in the case of bosonic dark matter, even though they remain in conflict with the fermionic case for part of the parameter space.

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