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Title: Neutron stars at the dark matter direct detection frontier

Abstract

Neutron stars capture dark matter efficiently. The kinetic energy transferred during capture heats old neutron stars in the local galactic halo to temperatures detectable by upcoming infrared telescopes. We derive the sensitivity of this probe in the framework of effective operators. For dark matter heavier than a GeV, we find that neutron star heating can set limits on the effective operator cutoff that are orders of magnitude stronger than possible from terrestrial direct detection experiments in the case of spin-dependent and velocity-suppressed scattering.

Authors:
; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States); University of Notre Dame, IN (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP); National Science Foundation (NSF)
OSTI Identifier:
1420033
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1498887
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0008541; PHY-1417118
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Physical Review. D.
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Physical Review. D. Journal Volume: 97 Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 2470-0010
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS; 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; dark matter; optical, UV, & IR astronomy; particle dark matter; sky surveys

Citation Formats

Raj, Nirmal, Tanedo, Philip, and Yu, Hai-Bo. Neutron stars at the dark matter direct detection frontier. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.97.043006.
Raj, Nirmal, Tanedo, Philip, & Yu, Hai-Bo. Neutron stars at the dark matter direct detection frontier. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.97.043006
Raj, Nirmal, Tanedo, Philip, and Yu, Hai-Bo. Fri . "Neutron stars at the dark matter direct detection frontier". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.97.043006.
@article{osti_1420033,
title = {Neutron stars at the dark matter direct detection frontier},
author = {Raj, Nirmal and Tanedo, Philip and Yu, Hai-Bo},
abstractNote = {Neutron stars capture dark matter efficiently. The kinetic energy transferred during capture heats old neutron stars in the local galactic halo to temperatures detectable by upcoming infrared telescopes. We derive the sensitivity of this probe in the framework of effective operators. For dark matter heavier than a GeV, we find that neutron star heating can set limits on the effective operator cutoff that are orders of magnitude stronger than possible from terrestrial direct detection experiments in the case of spin-dependent and velocity-suppressed scattering.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevD.97.043006},
journal = {Physical Review. D.},
number = 4,
volume = 97,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Feb 09 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Fri Feb 09 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.97.043006

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 66 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables:

Figure 1 Figure 1: Ambient dark matter is accelerated as it approaches a neutron star. This flux of kinetic energy is deposited into the star as heat, predicting a warmer neutron star temperature than in the absence of a dark matter–Standard Model interaction.

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Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.