Anything Can be a Dark Matter Detector

Anything Can be a Dark Matter Detector

by | Dec 9, 2024 | Daily Paper Summaries

Title: Searching for small primordial black holes in planets, asteroids and here on EarthAuthors: De-Chang Dai and Dejan StojkovicFirst Author’s Institution: Department of Physics, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, Taiwan, Republic of ChinaStatus: published in Physics of the Dark Universe [closed access] Dark matter is the mysterious substance that accounts for the majority of mass in the universe. We don’t know exactly what dark matter is, so despite its ubiquity, we’re still searching for it. One dark matter candidate is primordial black holes (PBHs). When we think of black holes, we typically envision them being formed from the gravitational collapse of a massive star that has exhausted its fuel. PBHs, on the other hand, formed from over-dense regions in the early universe, long before stars began forming. Researchers have yet to observe PBHs, but have been coming up with a variety of innovative ways to search for them (see previous Astrobites here and here for examples). The authors of today’s paper present an intriguingly simple approach to this search effort. Figure 1: (A) A PBH (black) in a planet/asteroid with solid shell (dark gray) and liquid core (light gray). (B) A PBH (black) within a hollow planet/asteroid after absorbing the liquid core. Adapted from Figure 2 of today’s paper. Building on recent work that has shown that PBHs can reside in the interiors of stars, the authors suggest that PBHs can also exist within planets or asteroids. If the planet/asteroid has a liquid core with a solid outer shell, then the captured PBH can absorb the liquid and create a hollow object if the outer shell is strong enough...