Solar mass black holes from neutron stars and bosonic dark matter

TL;DR

This paper explores how bosonic dark matter can accumulate in neutron stars and trigger their collapse into solar-mass black holes, despite conflicting interaction requirements, by deforming models at large fields.

Contribution

It demonstrates that models with efficient dark matter accumulation can be modified to enable neutron star collapse into black holes, resolving interaction conflicts.

Findings

Dark matter accumulation can lead to neutron star collapse.

Model deformations at large fields facilitate black hole formation.

Examples include weakly coupled models with bended infinite valleys.

Abstract

Black holes with masses $\approx 1\, M_{\odot}$ cannot be produced via stellar evolution. A popular scenario of their formation involves transmutation of neutron stars - by accumulation of dark matter triggering gravitational collapse in the star centers. We show that this scenario can be realized in the models of bosonic dark matter despite the apparently contradicting requirements on the interactions of dark matter particles: on the one hand, they should couple to neutrons strongly enough to be captured inside the neutron stars, on the other, their loop-induced self-interactions impede collapse. Observing that these conflicting conditions are imposed at different scales, we demonstrate that models with efficient accumulation of dark matter can be deformed at large fields to make unavoidable its subsequent collapse into a black hole. Workable examples include weakly coupled models with bended infinite valleys.