# Type Ia supernovae from dark matter core collapse

## TL;DR

This paper explores how the formation and collapse of dark matter cores in white dwarfs can trigger type Ia supernovae, extending constraints on dark matter properties down to masses of 10^5 GeV.

## Contribution

It introduces a new mechanism for supernova ignition via dark matter core collapse, including black hole formation and annihilation effects, broadening existing constraints on dark matter.

## Key findings

- Dark matter core collapse can ignite supernovae through black hole formation or annihilation.
- Constraints on dark matter mass extend down to 10^5 GeV.
- Collapse processes provide new pathways for supernova ignition.

## Abstract

Dark matter (DM) which sufficiently heats a local region in a white dwarf will trigger runaway fusion, igniting a type Ia supernova (SN). In a companion paper, this instability was used to constrain DM heavier than $10^{16}$ GeV which ignites SN through the violent interaction of one or two individual DM particles with the stellar medium. Here we study the ignition of supernovae by the formation and self-gravitational collapse of a DM core containing many DM particles. For non-annihilating DM, such a core collapse may lead to a mini black hole that can ignite SN through the emission of Hawking radiation, or possibly as a by-product of accretion. For annihilating DM, core collapse leads to an increasing annihilation rate and can ignite SN through a large number of rapid annihilations. These processes extend the previously derived constraints on DM to masses as low as $10^{5}$ GeV.