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Searching for dark matter with neutron star mergers and quiet kilonovae

2018; American Physical Society; Volume: 97; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1103/physrevd.97.055016

2470-0037

Joseph Bramante, Tim Linden, Yu-Dai Tsai,

Cosmology and Gravitation Theories

We identify new astrophysical signatures of dark matter that implodes neutron stars (NSs), which could decisively test whether NS-imploding dark matter is responsible for missing pulsars in the Milky Way galactic center, the source of some $r$-process elements, and the origin of fast-radio bursts. First, NS-imploding dark matter forms $\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}10}$ solar mass or smaller black holes inside neutron stars, which proceed to convert neutron stars into $\ensuremath{\sim}1.5$ solar mass black holes (BHs). This decreases the number of neutron star mergers seen by LIGO/Virgo (LV) and associated merger kilonovae seen by telescopes like DES, BlackGEM, and ZTF, instead producing a population of ``black mergers'' containing $\ensuremath{\sim}1.5$ solar mass black holes. Second, dark matter-induced neutron star implosions may create a new kind of kilonovae that lacks a detectable, accompanying gravitational signal, which we call ``quiet kilonovae.'' Using DES data and the Milky Way's r-process abundance, we constrain quiet kilonovae. Third, the spatial distribution of neutron star merger kilonovae and quiet kilonovae in galaxies can be used to detect dark matter. NS-imploding dark matter destroys most neutron stars at the centers of disc galaxies, so that neutron star merger kilonovae would appear mostly in a donut at large radii. We find that as few as ten neutron star merger kilonova events, located to $\ensuremath{\sim}1\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{kpc}$ precision could validate or exclude dark matter-induced neutron star implosions at $2\ensuremath{\sigma}$ confidence, exploring dark matter-nucleon cross-sections 4--10 orders of magnitude below current direct detection experimental limits. Similarly, NS-imploding dark matter as the source of fast radio bursts can be tested at $2\ensuremath{\sigma}$ confidence once 20 bursts are located in host galaxies by radio arrays like CHIME and HIRAX.