Dark Gamma Ray Bursts

Understand

Many theories of dark matter (DM) predict that DM particles can be captured by stars via scattering on ordinary matter.

• They subsequently condense into a DM core close to the center of the star and eventually annihilate.
• In this work, we trace DM capture and annihilation rates throughout the life of a massive star and show that this evolution culminates in an intense annihilation burst coincident with the death of the star in a core collapse supernova.
• The reason is that, along with the stellar interior, also its DM core heats up and contracts, so that the DM density increases rapidly during the final stages of stellar evolution.