Relativistic capture of dark matter by electrons in neutron stars
Dark matter can capture in neutron stars and heat them to observable luminosities. We study relativistic scattering of dark matter on highly degenerate electrons. We develop a Lorentz invariant formalism to calculate the capture probability of dark matter that accounts for the relativistic motion of...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2020-10-01
|
| Series: | Physics Letters B |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269320305700 |
| _version_ | 1818880011908677632 |
|---|---|
| author | Aniket Joglekar Nirmal Raj Philip Tanedo Hai-Bo Yu |
| author_facet | Aniket Joglekar Nirmal Raj Philip Tanedo Hai-Bo Yu |
| author_sort | Aniket Joglekar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Dark matter can capture in neutron stars and heat them to observable luminosities. We study relativistic scattering of dark matter on highly degenerate electrons. We develop a Lorentz invariant formalism to calculate the capture probability of dark matter that accounts for the relativistic motion of the target particles and Pauli exclusion principle. We find that the actual capture probability can be five orders of magnitude larger than the one estimated using a nonrelativistic approach. For dark matter masses 10eV–10PeV, neutron star heating complements and can be more sensitive than terrestrial direct detection searches. The projected sensitivity regions exhibit characteristic features that demonstrate a rich interplay between kinematics and Pauli blocking of the DM–electron system. Our results show that old neutron stars could be the most promising target for discovering leptophilic dark matter. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T14:39:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-da73893a02994a3a9dc10a05be6931fe |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0370-2693 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T14:39:11Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physics Letters B |
| spelling | doaj.art-da73893a02994a3a9dc10a05be6931fe2022-12-21T20:17:09ZengElsevierPhysics Letters B0370-26932020-10-01809135767Relativistic capture of dark matter by electrons in neutron starsAniket Joglekar0Nirmal Raj1Philip Tanedo2Hai-Bo Yu3Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA; Corresponding authors.TRIUMF, 4004 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2A3, Canada; Corresponding authors.Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA; Corresponding authors.Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA; Corresponding authors.Dark matter can capture in neutron stars and heat them to observable luminosities. We study relativistic scattering of dark matter on highly degenerate electrons. We develop a Lorentz invariant formalism to calculate the capture probability of dark matter that accounts for the relativistic motion of the target particles and Pauli exclusion principle. We find that the actual capture probability can be five orders of magnitude larger than the one estimated using a nonrelativistic approach. For dark matter masses 10eV–10PeV, neutron star heating complements and can be more sensitive than terrestrial direct detection searches. The projected sensitivity regions exhibit characteristic features that demonstrate a rich interplay between kinematics and Pauli blocking of the DM–electron system. Our results show that old neutron stars could be the most promising target for discovering leptophilic dark matter.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269320305700 |
| spellingShingle | Aniket Joglekar Nirmal Raj Philip Tanedo Hai-Bo Yu Relativistic capture of dark matter by electrons in neutron stars Physics Letters B |
| title | Relativistic capture of dark matter by electrons in neutron stars |
| title_full | Relativistic capture of dark matter by electrons in neutron stars |
| title_fullStr | Relativistic capture of dark matter by electrons in neutron stars |
| title_full_unstemmed | Relativistic capture of dark matter by electrons in neutron stars |
| title_short | Relativistic capture of dark matter by electrons in neutron stars |
| title_sort | relativistic capture of dark matter by electrons in neutron stars |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269320305700 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT aniketjoglekar relativisticcaptureofdarkmatterbyelectronsinneutronstars AT nirmalraj relativisticcaptureofdarkmatterbyelectronsinneutronstars AT philiptanedo relativisticcaptureofdarkmatterbyelectronsinneutronstars AT haiboyu relativisticcaptureofdarkmatterbyelectronsinneutronstars |