The Effect of Dark Matter on the First Stars: A New Phase of Stellar Evolution
Astrophysics
2008-11-26 v1 High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Abstract
Dark matter (DM) in protostellar halos can dramatically alter the current theoretical framework for the formation of the first stars. Heat from supersymmetric DM annihilation can overwhelm any cooling mechanism, consequently impeding the star formation process and possibly leading to a new stellar phase. The first stars to form in the universe may be ``dark stars''; i.e., giant (larger than 1 AU) hydrogen-helium stars powered by DM annihilation instead of nuclear fusion. Possibilities for detecting dark stars are discussed.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0709.2369,
title = {The Effect of Dark Matter on the First Stars: A New Phase of Stellar Evolution},
author = {Katherine Freese and Paolo Gondolo and Douglas Spolyar},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0709.2369},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
3 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings for First Stars 2007 Conference in Santa Fe, NM, July 2007