Dark Matter-Induced Low-Mass Gap Black Hole Echoing LVK Observations

TL;DR

This paper explores how dark matter accumulation in stars can produce low-mass black holes, explaining recent gravitational wave detections and predicting observable signatures in future observations.

Contribution

It introduces a dark matter-induced formation mechanism for low-mass black holes within the stellar evolution framework, aligning with recent LVK gravitational wave data.

Findings

Dark matter capture can produce black holes in the 3-5 solar mass range.

Predicted merger rates match LVK observations.

Distinct signatures in galaxy halo distributions are identified.

Abstract

The recent detection of gravitational waves from a binary merger involving a potential low-mass gap black hole (LMBH) by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration motivates investigations into mechanisms beyond conventional stellar evolution theories to account for their existence. We study a mechanism in which dark matter (DM), through its capture and accumulation inside main sequence stars, induces the formation of black holes within the mass range of $[3, 5]M_\odot$. We examine the distribution of these LMBHs as a function of galaxy halo mass, particularly when paired with neutron stars. This gives a distinct signature that can be tested with future gravitational wave observations. We find that a viable portion of the DM parameter space predicts a merger rate of such binaries consistent with LVK observations.