Neutron stars as probes of dark matter

TL;DR

Neutron stars can serve as natural laboratories to investigate the properties and interactions of dark matter by analyzing how their internal structure and stability are affected by the presence of dark matter components.

Contribution

This paper explores how dark matter could be incorporated into neutron star models and how such mixtures could lead to observable effects, providing new constraints on dark matter properties.

Findings

Dark matter inside neutron stars can alter their mass-radius relationship.

The presence of dark matter can trigger observable changes in neutron star behavior.

Neutron stars impose constraints on dark matter interactions and properties.

Abstract

Neutron Stars (NSs) are compact stellar objects that are stable solutions in General Relativity. Their internal structure is usually described using an equation of state that involves the presence of ordinary matter and its interactions. However there is now a large consensus that an elusive sector of matter in the Universe, described as dark matter, remains as yet undiscovered. In such a case, NSs should contain both, baryonic and dark matter. We argue that depending on the nature of the dark matter and in certain circumstances, the two matter components would form a mixture inside NSs that could trigger further changes, some of them observable. The very existence of NSs constrains the nature and interactions of dark matter in the Universe