arXiv subjects

Fabio Iocco

Publications and source records attributed to Fabio Iocco.

46 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

Observational constraints on supermassive dark stars

Some of the first stars could be cooler and more massive than standard stellar models would suggest, due to the effects of dark matter annihilation in their cores. It has recently been argued that such objects may attain masses in the 10^4--10^7 solar mass range, and that such supermassive dark stars should be within reach of the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope. Notwithstanding theoretical difficulties with this proposal, we argue here that some of these objects should also be readily detectable with both the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based 8--10 m class telescopes. Existing survey data already place strong constraints on 10^7 solar mass dark stars at z~10. We show that such objects must be exceedingly rare or short-lived to have avoided detection.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Effect of low mass dark matter particles on the Sun

We study the effect of dark matter (DM) particles in the Sun, focusing in particular on the possible reduction of the solar neutrinos flux due to the energy carried away by DM particles from the innermost regions of the Sun, and to the consequent reduction of the temperature of the solar core. We find that in the very low-mass range between 4 and 10 GeV, recently advocated to explain the findings of the DAMA and CoGent experiments, the effects on neutrino fluxes are detectable only for DM models with very small, or vanishing, self-annihilation cross section, such as the so-called asymmetric DM models, and we study the combination of DM masses and Spin Dependent cross sections which can be excluded with current solar neutrino data. Finally, we revisit the recent claim that DM models with large self-interacting cross sections can lead to a modification of the position of the convective zone, alleviating or solving the solar composition problem. We show that when the `geometric' upper limit on the capture rate is correctly taken into account, the effects of DM are reduced by orders of magnitude, and the position of the convective zone remains unchanged.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Finding high-redshift dark stars with the James Webb Space Telescope

The first stars in the history of the Universe are likely to form in the dense central regions of 10^5-10^6 Msolar cold dark matter halos at z=10-50. The annihilation of dark matter particles in these environments may lead to the formation of so-called dark stars, which are predicted to be cooler, larger, more massive and potentially more long-lived than conventional population III stars. Here, we investigate the prospects of detecting high-redshift dark stars with the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We find that dark stars at z>6 are intrinsically too faint to be detected by JWST. However, by exploiting foreground galaxy clusters as gravitational telescopes, certain varieties of cool (Teff < 30000 K) dark stars should be within reach at redshifts up to z=10. If the lifetimes of dark stars are sufficiently long, many such objects may also congregate inside the first galaxies. We demonstrate that this could give rise to peculiar features in the integrated spectra of galaxies at high redshifts, provided that dark stars make up at least 1 percent of the total stellar mass in such objects.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

The Cosmic Ray Lepton Puzzle

Recent measurements of cosmic ray electrons and positrons by PAMELA, ATIC, Fermi and HESS have revealed interesting excesses and features in the GeV-TeV range. Many possible explanations have been suggested, invoking one or more nearby primary sources such as pulsars and supernova remnants, or dark matter. Based on the output of the TANGO in PARIS --Testing Astroparticle with the New GeV/TeV Observations in Positrons And electRons : Identifying the Sources-- workshop held in Paris in May 2009, we review here the latest experimental results and we discuss some virtues and drawbacks of the many theoretical interpretations proposed so far.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2009

Self-annihilating dark matter and the CMB: reionizing the Universe and constraining cross sections

I summarize the recent advances in determining the effects of self-annihilating WIMP dark matter on the modification of the recombination history, at times earlier than the formation of astrophysical objects. Depending on mass and self-annihilation cross section, WIMP DM can reproduce sizable amounts of the total free electron abundance at z > 6; as known, this affects the CMB temperature and polarization correlation spectra, and can be used to place stringent bounds in the particle mass vs cross-section plane. WMAP5 data already strongly disfavor the region capable to explain the recent cosmic positron and electrons anomalies in terms of DM annihilation, whereas in principle the Planck mission has the potential to see a signal produced by a candidate laying in that region, or from WIMPs with thermal annihilation cross-sections =3e-26 cm3/s and masses below 50 GeV.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Constraints on Dark Matter annihilations from reionization and heating of the intergalactic gas

Dark Matter annihilations after recombination and during the epoch of structure formation deposit energy in the primordial intergalactic medium, producing reionization and heating. We investigate the constraints that are imposed by the observed optical depth of the Universe and the measured temperature of the intergalactic gas. We find that the bounds are significant, and have the power to rule out large portions of the `DM mass/cross section' parameter space. The optical depth bound is generally stronger and does not depend significantly on the history of structure formation. The temperature bound can be competitive in some cases for small masses or the hadronic annihilation channels (and is affected somewhat by the details of structure formation). We find in particular that DM particles with a large annihilation cross section into leptons and a few TeV mass, such as those needed to explain the PAMELA and FERMI+HESS cosmic ray excesses in terms of Dark Matter, are ruled out as they produce too many free electrons. We also find that low mass particles (<~ 10 GeV) tend to heat too much the gas and are therefore disfavored.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

An idea for detecting capture dominated Dark Stars

I discuss an idea which could lead to a methodology for testing the effects of WIMP DM scattering and capture onto primordial stars. It relies on the effects of "life-prolongation" of affected Population III stars, that can slow down nuclear reactions by supporting their own structure with the energy produced by annihilating DM captured inside the star. This can lead to an alteration of the Pair Production SuperNova rate, which could constitute a peculiar signature of the existence of capture Dark Stars.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2008

Evolution of the First Stars with Dark Matter Burning

Recent theoretical studies have revealed the possibly important role of the capture and annihilation process of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) for the first stars. Using new evolutionary models of metal-free massive stars, we investigate the impact of such ``dark matter burning'' for the first stars in different environments of dark matter (DM) halos, in terms of the ambient WIMP density (rho_chi). We find that, in agreement with existing literature, stellar life times can be significantly prolonged for a certain range of rho_χ(i.e., 10^{10} ~ < ρ_χGeV/cm3 ~ < 10^{11} with the current upper limit for the spin-dependent elastic scattering cross section sigma = 5*10^{-39} cm2}). This greatly enhances the role of rotationally induced chemical mixing in rotating stars, in favor of abundant production of primary nitrogen, massive helium stars and long gamma-ray bursts, from the first stars. We also find that stars with rho_chi > 2*10^{11} GeV/cm3 may not undergo nuclear burning stages, confirming the previous work, and that ionizing photon fluxes from such DM supported stars are very weak. Delayed metal enrichment and slow reionization in the early universe would have resulted if most of the first stars had been born in DM halos with such high rho_χ, unless it had been lowered significantly below the threshold for efficient DM burning on a short time scale.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Dark Matter capture and annihilation on the First Stars: preliminary estimates

Assuming that Dark Matter is dominated by WIMPs, it accretes by gravitational attraction and scattering over baryonic material and annihilates inside celestial objects, giving rise to a "Dark Luminosity" which may potentially affect the evolution of stars. We estimate the Dark Luminosity achieved by different kinds of stars in a halo with DM properties characteristic of the ones where the first star formation episode occurs. We find that either massive, metal-free and small, galactic-like stars can achieve Dark Luminosities comparable or exceeding their nuclear ones. This might have dramatic effects over the evolution of the very first stars, known as Population III.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

Effects of BBN on Population III stars

The presence (or absence) of CNO elements in the primordial gas determines different behaviours in population III stars formation and evolution: we therefore present an analysis of the main channels for the synthesis of these elements in BBN in order to understand, within a reliable interval, their abundance in the primordial material.

astro-ph↗