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arXiv · 1001.2737

Capture of Inelastic Dark Matter in White Dwarves

Matthew McCullough·Malcolm Fairbairn
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Abstract

We consider the capture of inelastic dark matter in white dwarves by inelastic spin-independent scattering on nuclei. We show that if the dark matter annihilates to standard-model particles then, under the assumption of primordial globular cluster formation, the observation of cold white dwarves in the globular cluster M4 appears inconsistent with explanations of the observed DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation signal based on spin-independent inelastic dark matter scattering. Alternatively if the inelastic dark matter scenario were to be confirmed and it was found to annihilate to standard-model particles then this would imply a much lower dark matter density in the core of M4 than would be expected if it were to have formed in a dark matter halo. Finally we argue that cold white dwarves constitute a unique dark matter probe, complementary to other direct and indirect detection searches.

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Matthew McCullough, Malcolm Fairbairn. 2010-01-15. Capture of Inelastic Dark Matter in White Dwarves. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.81.083520

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