Dark Matter with Time-Dependent Mass
Abstract
We propose a simple model in which the cosmological dark matter consists of particles whose mass increases with the scale factor of the universe. The particle mass is generated by the expectation value of a scalar field which does not have a stable vacuum state, but which is effectively stabilized by the rest energy of the ambient particles. As the universe expands, the density of particles decreases, leading to an increase in the vacuum expectation value of the scalar (and hence the mass of the particle). The energy density of the coupled system of variable-mass particles (``vamps'') redshifts more slowly than that of ordinary matter. Consequently, the age of the universe is larger than in conventional scenarios.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/9711288,
title = {Dark Matter with Time-Dependent Mass},
author = {Greg W. Anderson and Sean M. Carroll},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/9711288},
year = {2016}
}
Comments
14 pages, 2 figures; based on a talk by SMC at Cosmo-97, September 1997, Ambleside, England. Important references added