Dark Matter and The First Stars

Department of Physics and Astronomy Colloquium: Dr. Douglas Spolyar, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, to speak on "Dark Matter and The First Stars."

Abstract:
The first phase of stellar evolution in the history of the Universe may be Dark Stars (DS), powered by dark matter heating rather than by nuclear fusion. The power source is annihilation of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) which are their own antiparticles. These WIMPs are the best motivated dark matter (DM) candidates and may be discovered by ongoing direct or indirect detection searches (e.g. FERMI /GLAST) or at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. A new stellar phase results, powered by DM annihilation as long as there is DM fuel, from millions to billions of years. These stars look dramatically different from typical pop. III stars and may dramatically alter the early history of the universe.

Ticket Information
Free

Event Sponsor
Physics and Astronomy, Manoa Campus

More Information
Dr. John G. Learned, 956-2964, jgl@phys.hawaii.edu

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