Dark matter could be annihilating inside white dwarfs

Because the seek for dark matter particles continues to yield nothing, astronomers proceed to have a look at methods these elusive particles could be discovered. One basic technique is to search for proof of dark matter particle decay. Though dark matter would not work together strongly with common matter, some dark matter fashions predict that dark matter particles can work together with one another, inflicting them to decay into regular particles.

There have been a number of searches for this impact, however there is no clear proof but. However a new study, printed on the pre-print server arXiv, suggests taking a look at white dwarfs might be an excellent strategy.

White dwarfs are the dense remnants of useless stars. They’ve practically a sun’s price of mass compressed right into a sphere the scale of Earth. White dwarfs are so dense it’s the stress of electrons that retains them from collapsing. Because the authors of this new research level out, white dwarfs have an ideal steadiness of being dense however not overly tiny like neutron stars. They’re additionally quite common all through the Milky Way, giving astronomers loads of choices to check them.

For that reason, the authors argue that white dwarfs are excellent sources for dark matter decay. The excessive density of white dwarfs would have a tendency to draw dark matter particle interactions, and the excessive floor gravity of white dwarfs would are inclined to seize dark matter particles over time. The particle decay from dark matter would have a tendency to supply an extra of each warmth and gamma rays, and since white dwarf physics is pretty effectively understood astronomers ought to have the ability to distinguish between regular and dark-matter enriched white dwarfs.

For example of this, the crew thought of a easy white dwarf mannequin comprised solely of carbon-12. They then thought of dark matter seize for 3 particle fashions, with mild, intermediate, and heavy lots. They then calculated the interplay cross-sections between dark matter particles and the nucleons of standard matter within the white dwarf. From this, they decided the observational constraints of dark matter primarily based on present observations.

There is no proof of dark matter decay to date, however the authors recommend {that a} direct research of particular person white dwarf stars might reveal dark matter. White dwarfs close to the middle of the Milky Way, or these in close by globular clusters might be significantly good candidates.

So nothing but, however as astronomers proceed to seek for dark matter, trying out some white dwarfs in search of extra gamma-rays might be an excellent possibility.