Dark matter admixed neutron stars with a realistic nuclear equation of state from chiral nuclear interactions

TL;DR

This paper investigates how dark matter influences neutron star properties using a realistic nuclear equation of state and models dark matter as a non-self-annihilating fermionic fluid, revealing effects on maximum mass, composition, and stability.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed model of dark matter admixed neutron stars with a realistic nuclear EoS, analyzing the impact of dark matter particle mass on stellar structure and stability.

Findings

Dark matter can increase or decrease the maximum neutron star mass depending on particle mass.

Presence of dark matter affects proton fraction and the threshold for direct URCA processes.

Dark matter influences the stability and cooling processes of neutron stars.

Abstract

We study the effects of dark matter on the structural properties of neutron stars. In particular we investigate how the presence of a dark matter component influences the mass-radius relation, the value of the maximum mass of a neutron star and other stellar properties. To model ordinary matter we use a state-of-the-art equation of state of $\beta$-stable nuclear matter obtained using the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock quantum many-body approach starting from two-body and three-body nuclear interactions derived from chiral effective field theory. The dark matter component of the star is modeled as a non-self-annihilating system of spin $1/2$ fermions at zero temperature and its equation of state as an ideal relativistic Fermi gas. The equilibrium configurations of these dark matter admixed neutron stars (DANS) are calculated by solving a generalization of the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations to the case where the system consists of two perfect fluids interacting solely through gravity. We find that, depending on the dark matter particle mass $m_\chi$, one can have somehow opposite effects on the stellar properties. In the case $m_\chi = 1\, \mathrm{GeV}$, the stellar gravitational maximum mass $M_{max}$ decreases, whereas in the case $m_\chi = 0.1\, \mathrm{GeV}$, $M_{max}$ increases with respect to the maximum mass of ordinary neutron stars. We also show that the presence of dark matter has indirect sizable effect on the proton fraction in the ordinary matter fluid and, in the case $m_\chi = 1\, \mathrm{GeV}$, results in a decrease of the threshold gravitational mass $M_{tot}^{durca}$ for having direct URCA processes and fast stellar cooling. Finally we study the stability of dark matter admixed neutron stars with respect to radial perturbations.