Constraining dark matter interactions mediated by a light scalar with white dwarfs

Abstract

Observations of white dwarfs in dark matter-rich environments can provide strong limits on the strength of dark matter interactions. Here we apply the recently improved formalism of the dark matter capture rate in white dwarfs to a general model in which dark matter interacts with the white dwarf ion components via a light scalar mediator. We compute the dark matter capture rate in the optically thin limit in a cold white dwarf from the globular cluster Messier. We then estimate the threshold cross-section, which significantly varies as a function of the light scalar mediator mass $m_{\varphi }$ in the range of $0.05m_{\chi }<m_{\varphi }<m_{\chi }$ and becomes constant when $m_{\varphi }>m_{\chi }$. We also show that the bounds obtained from the dark matter capture in a white dwarf from the globular cluster Messier 4 are complementary to direct detection experiments and particularly strong in the sub-GeV regime.

6 pages, 2 figures

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• Search for sub-GeV Scalars in $e^{+}{e}^{-}$ collisions