Low Mass Naked Singularities from Dark Core Collapse

TL;DR

This paper explores how dark matter-induced core collapse in neutron stars could produce either black holes or naked singularities, with implications for gravitational wave sources and pulsar observations.

Contribution

It introduces the possibility of naked singularity formation from dark matter core collapse, challenging the exclusive focus on black holes in such processes.

Findings

Dark matter core collapse can lead to naked singularities instead of black holes.

Naked singularities can transmute neutron stars into near-solar mass objects.

Missing pulsars near the Galactic center may indicate the presence of naked singularities.

Abstract

Near-solar mass black holes (BHs) could have been involved in the two recent gravitational wave events, GW190425 and GW190814. Since such a low mass BH cannot be formed via stellar evolution, a model has been proposed based on the core collapse of a neutron star initiated by a certain number of dark matter (DM) particles. In this process, the accumulated DM particles collapse to form a tiny BH inside the neutron star, and the entire neutron star is transmuted into a BH after a certain time due to the accretion of matter by the endoparasitic BH from its host. Here, we argue that, depending on the initial conditions, a dark core collapse could give rise to either a BH or a naked singularity. For example, if the accumulated cloud of DM particles in the core of a neutron star can be modeled as an anisotropic fluid and it fulfils the criterion for collapse, an endoparasitic naked singularity could form instead of an endoparasitic BH. Immediately after its formation, the naked singularity should begin accreting matter from the host neutron star, thus eventually transmuting the entire host into a near-solar mass, relatively slowly-spinning naked singularity. We also propose a general technique to constrain the DM particle--neutron scattering cross section using the lack of pulsars near the Galactic centre and assuming that these missing pulsars have already been transmuted into BHs and/or naked singularities. Thus, the missing pulsars also indicate the existence of many such singularities near the Galactic center.