Constraining Dark Matter properties with the first generation of stars

Abstract

Dark Matter (DM) can be trapped by the gravitational field of any star, since collisions with nuclei in dense environments can slow down the DM particle below the escape velocity ($v_{esc}$) at the surface of the star. If captured, the DM particles can self-annihilate, and, therefore, provide a new source of energy for the star. We investigate this phenomenon for capture of DM particles by the first generation of stars [Population III (Pop III) stars], by using the multiscatter capture formalism. Pop III stars are particularly good DM captors, since they form in DM-rich environments, at the center of$\sim 10^6{M}_{\odot }$ DM minihalos, at redshifts $z\sim 15$. Assuming a DM-proton scattering cross section ($\sigma )$ at the current deepest exclusion limits provided by the XENON1T experiment, we find that captured DM annihilations at the core of Pop III stars can lead, via the Eddington limit, to upper bounds in stellar masses that can be as low as a few $M_{\odot }$ if the ambient DM density (${\rho }_X$) at the location of the Pop III star is sufficiently high. Conversely, when Pop III stars are identified, one can use their observed mass ($M_{\star }$) to place bounds on ${\rho }_X\sigma$. Using adiabatic contraction to estimate the ambient DM density in the environment surrounding Pop III stars, we place projected upper limits on $\sigma$, for $M_{\star }$ in the $100-1000M_{\odot }$ range, and find bounds that are competitive with, or deeper than, those provided by the most sensitive current direct detection experiments for both spin independent and spin dependent interactions, for a wide range of DM masses. Most intriguingly, we find that Pop III stars with mass $M_{\star }\gtrsim 300M_{\odot }$ could be used to probe the SD proton-DM cross section below the "neutrino floor," i.e. the region of parameter space where DM direct detection experiments will soon become overwhelmed by neutrino backgrounds.

20 pages, 8 figures, final version published to PRD; Revised: included analyses on the proton-DM cross sections for sub-GeV DM models; expanded discussion on ambient DM densities ; included the effect of the "annihilation plateau"; we added three appendices (dark matter temperature, approximations for DM evaporation rates, and equilibria requirements between capture and annihilation/evaporation)

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• Evaporation of dark matter from celestial bodies
• Improved Treatment of Dark Matter Capture in Neutron Stars III: Nucleon and Exotic Targets
• Tidal Love Numbers of Novel and Admixed Celestial Objects
• Heating Neutron Stars with Inelastic Dark Matter and Relativistic Targets
• Gravitational waves from mergers of Population III binary black holes: roles played by two evolution channels
• Optimal Celestial Bodies for Dark Matter Detection
• Singularities in the Gravitational Capture of Dark Matter through Long-Range Interactions
• Dark Matter (H)eats Young Planets
• Detectability of Supermassive Dark Stars with the Roman Space Telescope
• Revealing Dark Matter's Role in Neutron Stars Anisotropy: A Bayesian Approach Using Multi-messenger Observations
• Analytic Approximations for the Velocity Suppression of Dark Matter Capture
• Supermassive Dark Stars and their remnants as a possible solution to three recent cosmic dawn puzzles
• Heavy dark matter in rapidly evolving massive stars
• Revisiting constraints on asymmetric dark matter from collapse in white dwarf stars
• Dark-Matter-Powered Population III Evolution: Lifetimes, Rotation, and Quasi-Homogeneity in massive Stars
• Constraining Asymmetric DM Properties by Black Hole Formation in Neutron Stars and Population III Stars