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arXiv · 1201.1305

Dark matter powered stars: Constraints from the extragalactic background light

A. Maurer·M. Raue·T. Kneiske·D. Elsässer·P. H. Hauschildt·D. Horns
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Abstract

The existence of predominantly cold non-baryonic dark matter is unambiguously demonstrated by several observations (e.g., structure formation, big bang nucleosynthesis, gravitational lensing, and rotational curves of spiral galaxies). A candidate well motivated by particle physics is a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP). Self-annihilating WIMPs would affect the stellar evolution especially in the early universe. Stars powered by self-annihilating WIMP dark matter should possess different properties compared with standard stars. While a direct detection of such dark matter powered stars seems very challenging, their cumulative emission might leave an imprint in the diffuse metagalactic radiation fields, in particular in the mid-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. In this work the possible contributions of dark matter powered stars (dark stars; DSs) to the extragalactic background light (EBL) are calculated. It is shown that existing data and limits of the EBL intensity can already be used to rule out some DS parameter sets.

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A. Maurer, M. Raue, T. Kneiske, D. Elsässer, P. H. Hauschildt, D. Horns. 2012-01-05. Dark matter powered stars: Constraints from the extragalactic background light. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/745/2/166

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