A strongly self-interacting component of asymmetric dark matter (DM) particles can form compact dark stars (DSs). These objects have a broad spectrum of masses and radii, with distinct evolution histories from both neutron stars and black holes (BHs). We argue that these differences allow a population of DSs to contribute significantly to the astrophysical merger rate in unique and discernible ways. Specifically, their merger rate could dominate at low redshifts over other sources, while their mass function may populate windows outside known astrophysical processes. We investigate the structure and formation of DSs within a dissipative model, and calculate the enhancement of their merger cross-section due to tidal deformation effects. From this, we derive the present-day merger rate and its differential mass distribution. These findings open a new window to probe DM substructure and particle interactions through present and future gravitational wave (GW) observatories.
@article{arxiv.2603.22949,
title = {Gravitational Waves from Mergers of Asymmetric Dark Stars},
author = {Boris Betancourt Kamenetskaia and Qianhang Ding and Chris Kouvaris},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.22949},
year = {2026}
}