Triggering Electron Capture Supernovae: Dark Matter Effects in Degenerate White-Dwarf-like Cores of Super-Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars

Abstract

Electron-capture supernovae (ECSNe) have emerged as a compelling formation channel for low-mass neutron stars, bolstered by decades of theoretical work and increasingly supported by observational evidence, including the recent identification of SN~2018zd. Motivated by this, we investigate the influence of fermionic asymmetric dark matter (ADM) on the equilibrium structure of progenitor cores and the formation of their neutron star remnants. Using a general relativistic two-fluid formalism, we model the coupled evolution of ordinary matter (OM) and ADM, treated as separately conserved fluids interacting solely through gravity. Our analysis focuses on neon-rich white dwarfs (Ne WDs), which are typical progenitor cores for ECSNe. We assume conservation of both baryon number ($N_B$) and dark matter particle number ($N_D$) during collapse, allowing for a consistent mapping between progenitor and remnant configurations. We find that ADM significantly enhances the central density of the WD progenitor. This lowers the threshold gravitational mass $M^{\ast }$ required to initiate electron capture, enabling ECSNe from lower-mass progenitors. The resulting remnants are stable, dark matter-admixed neutron stars with gravitational masses potentially well below current observational bounds. Moreover, we find that the conversion energy during the WD-to-NS conversion is also significantly reduced for higher ADM particle masses and fractions, suggesting that unusually low-energy ECSNe may serve as potential indicators of ADM involvement in stellar collapse.

5 figures, 2 Tables

References in corpus (80)

• GW170817: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral
• Particle Dark Matter: Evidence, Candidates and Constraints
• Dark Matter Search Results from a One Tonne$\times$Year Exposure of XENON1T
• Chiral effective field theory and nuclear forces
• Tests of general relativity from timing the double pulsar
• The Nuclear Equation of State and Neutron Star Masses
• Science with the space-based interferometer eLISA. II: Gravitational waves from cosmological phase transitions
• First Dark Matter Search Results from the XENON1T Experiment
• First Dark Matter Search Results from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Experiment
• Asymmetric Dark Matter
• Constraints on Cosmological Models from Hubble Space Telescope Observations of High-z Supernovae
• Asymmetric Dark Matter: Theories, Signatures, and Constraints
• A New Era in the Quest for Dark Matter
• Nuclear effective field theory: status and perspectives
• Refined Neutron-Star Mass Determinations for Six Eclipsing X-Ray Pulsar Binaries
• SENSEI: Direct-Detection Results on sub-GeV Dark Matter from a New Skipper-CCD
• The Extended Rotation Curve and the Dark Matter Halo of M33
• Gravitational Waves From a Dark (Twin) Phase Transition
• WIMP Annihilation and Cooling of Neutron Stars
• On the Mass Distribution and Birth Masses of Neutron Stars
• The Neutron Star Mass Distribution
• Compact Stars as Dark Matter Probes
• CDMSlite: A Search for Low-Mass WIMPs using Voltage-Assisted Calorimetric Ionization Detection in the SuperCDMS Experiment
• Dark matter and the early Universe: a review
• Neutron Stars as Dark Matter Probes
• Can Neutron stars constrain Dark Matter?
• Super and massive AGB stars - IV. Final fates - Initial to final mass relation
• Constraining Asymmetric Dark Matter through observations of compact stars
• Advanced burning stages and fate of 8-10 Mo stars
• Dark Kinetic Heating of Neutron Stars and An Infrared Window On WIMPs, SIMPs, and Pure Higgsinos
• Dark Matter Effects On Neutron Star Properties
• Rotation Curve and Mass Distribution in the Galactic Center --- From Black Hole to Entire Galaxy ---
• Dynamical constraints on the dark matter distribution in the Milky Way
• Super-AGB Stars and their role as Electron Capture Supernova progenitors
• Bosonic Dark Matter in Neutron Stars and its Effect on Gravitational Wave Signal
• PALFA Discovery of a Highly Relativistic Double Neutron Star Binary
• Conversion of neutron stars to strange stars as the central engine of gamma-ray bursts
• Neutron stars at the dark matter direct detection frontier
• Capture of Inelastic Dark Matter in White Dwarves
• Further Evidence for the Bimodal Distribution of Neutron Star Masses
• Do electron-capture supernovae make neutron stars? First multidimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the oxygen deflagration
• PSR J1756$-$2251: a pulsar with a low-mass neutron star companion
• Accretion-induced prompt black hole formation in asymmetric neutron star mergers, dynamical ejecta and kilonova signals
• Neutron stars: new constraints on asymmetric dark matter
• Dark stars at the Galactic centre - the main sequence
• Equation of state of dense nuclear matter and neutron star structure from nuclear chiral interactions
• The electron-capture origin of supernova 2018zd
• Dark matter admixed neutron stars
• Dark matter ignition of type Ia supernovae
• Supernova Explosions of Super-Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars: Multicolor Light Curves of Electron-Capture Supernovae
• On the mass distribution of neutron stars
• Dark matter admixed neutron star as a possible compact component in the GW190814 merger event
• Remnants and ejecta of thermonuclear electron-capture supernovae: Constraining oxygen-neon deflagrations in high-density white dwarfs
• Electron capture in stars
• Dark-matter admixed white dwarfs
• Type Ia supernovae from dark matter core collapse
• Dwarf spheroidal galaxies as degenerate gas of free fermions
• Microscopic equation of state of hot nuclear matter for numerical relativity simulations
• Equation of state of classical Coulomb plasma mixtures
• General Relativistic effects in the structure of massive white dwarfs
• Effects of Chiral Effective Field Theory Equation of State on Binary Neutron Star Mergers
• Novel constraints on fermionic dark matter from galactic observables I: The Milky Way
• Constraining self-interacting fermionic dark matter in admixed neutron stars using multimessenger astronomy
• Comprehensive study of compact stars with dark matter
• The gravitational collapse of ONe electron-degenerate cores and white dwarfs: the role of ${}^{24}$Mg and ${}^{12}$C revisited
• Radial oscillations and stability of multiple-fluid compact stars
• Dynamical evolution of dark matter admixed neutron stars
• Nuclear and dark matter heating in massive white dwarf stars
• Dark Matter Admixed Type Ia Supernovae
• Hydrodynamic Simulations of Electron-capture Supernovae: Progenitor and Dimension Dependence
• General Relativistic Calculations for White Dwarf Stars
• Gamma rays from dark mediators in white dwarfs
• Searching for New Physics in Ultradense Environment: a Review on Dark Matter Admixed Neutron Stars
• On the change of old neutron star masses with galactocentric distance
• The Quest for the Nature of the Dark Matter: The Need of a New Paradigm
• Dark matter admixed neutron stars with a realistic nuclear equation of state from chiral nuclear interactions
• Heavy Dark Matter in White Dwarfs: Multiple-Scattering Capture and Thermalization
• Rapidly spinning dark matter-admixed neutron stars
• Laminar Flame Speeds in Degenerate Oxygen-Neon Mixtures
• Cooling the Shock: New Supernova Constraints on Dark Photons

Cited by in corpus (1)

• The Formation of Electron-capture Supernovae: A Review