Neutron stars as probes of dark sectors

Professor Maxim Pospelov

Neutron stars are born in the violent supernova explosions, when the temperatures reach tens of MeV, replicating, in some aspects, the environment of the very early Universe. I investigate faintly-interacting dark matter particles that get produced in the explosion and stay gravitationally bound to the newly born neutron star. I show that the late time annihilation of dark matter back to the Standard Model particles will lead to an additional source of heat generation that can be incompatible with observation of stars' surface temperatures. Thus, current observations of old neutron stars set uniquely nontrivial constraints on the space of dark matter models.

To participate in this event virtually via Zoom, go to https://uiowa.zoom.us/j/99576304908.