Date/Time
Date(s) - 29/11/2023
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Location
Physics and Astronomy Department

ABB room 102

Guest: Dr. Aaron Vincent
Assistant Professor / Graduate Chair
https://www.queensu.ca/physics/people-search/aaron-vincent
Queen’s University

Title: Dark matter in the Sun and stars

Abstract:

Dark matter makes up about 85% of the matter in the Universe, but its true nature still eludes us. Direct detection experiments around the world are searching for the small dark matter-nucleon interactions that would give us the first clue about its particle physics properties. If such interactions exist, they would also cause dark matter to become trapped inside stars. This can have consequences ranging from unobservable to catastrophic: small effects on neutrino fluxes detected at earth, asteroseismologial changes, the formation of black holes in stellar cores, and even premature thermonuclear detonation. I will discuss the background and many fascinating challenges that we are faced with in using stars as a laboratory for dark matter discovery.