Possible astrophysical clues of dark matter

Abstract

The physics of the supernova may provide a clue of the cosmological dark matter. In the absence of new physics, the supernova calculations do not explain the observed velocities of pulsars. However, if there exists a singlet fermion with mass in the 1-20 keV range and a small mixing with neutrinos, this particle could be emitted asymmetrically from a cooling neutron star in the event of a supernova explosion. The asymmetry could explain the long-standing puzzle of pulsar velocities. The same particle could be the dark matter. Observations of X-ray telescopes, as well as a future detection of gravitational waves from a nearby supernova can confirm or rule out this possibility.

Comments: 6 pages, 1 figure; talk presented at the 6th UCLA Symposium on Sources and Detection of Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe (Dark Matter 2004), Marina del Rey, California, February 18-20, 2004