Cooling stars hint at dark matter particles

 News in Brief Particle Physics,Astronomy Cooling stars hint at dark matter particles

Axions might explain faster-than-expected temperature drop

By Emily Conover 3:23pm, August 9, 2016

COOL STARS White dwarf stars (circled) cool as they age. Scientists have found that pulsating stars known as variable white dwarfs cool faster than expected. The discrepancy could be explained by hypothetical particles called axions carrying energy away from the star.

H. Richer/UBC et al., WFPC2, HST, NASA

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CHICAGO — Cooling stars could shine some light on the nature of dark matter.

Certain types of stars are cooling faster than scientists expect. New research suggests that the oddity could hint at the presence of hypothetical particles known as axions. Such particles have also been proposed as a candidate for dark matter, the unknown substance that makes up most of the matter in the universe.

Researchers analyzed previous measurements of white dwarf variable stars, which periodically grow dimmer and brighter at a rate that indicates how fast the star is cooling. For all five stars measured, the cooling was larger than predicted. Likewise, red giant stars have also shown excess cooling.

Considering each result on its own, “each one is not that interesting,” says physicist Maurizio Giannotti of Barry University in Miami Shores, Fla., who presented the result at the International Conference on High Energy Physics on August 4. But taken together, the consistent pattern could indicate something funny is going on.

After evaluating several possible explanations for the cooling of the stars, the researchers concluded that the axion explanation was most likely — barring some more mundane explanation like measurement error. Axions produced within the star stream outward, carrying energy away as they go, and cooling the star.

Although it may be more likely that the phenomenon will eventually be chalked up to measurement errors, it’s important to take note when something doesn’t add up, Giannotti says. “We can’t ignore the small hints.”

Citations

M. Giannotti. Hints of new physics from stars. International Conference on High Energy Physics, Chicago, August 4, 2016.

Further Reading

A. Yeager. Dead — but not duds. Science News. Vol. 174, October 11, 2008, p. 26.

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Cooling stars hint at dark matter particles