New upper bounds on millicharged particles (masses 10-100 keV, charges down to 5e-13) from the AGB-to-HB star ratio in globular clusters, improving prior limits by up to two orders of magnitude.
The Black Hole Mass Gap as a New Probe of Millicharged Particles
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abstract
We investigate the impact of millicharged particles (MCPs) on massive stars undergoing pulsational pair-instability supernovae and on the location of the lower edge of the black hole mass gap. We find that energy losses due to MCP emission weaken the pulsations, allowing the star to retain more mass and thereby shifting the lower edge of the mass gap to higher black hole masses. The mass gap is sensitive to a region of MCP parameter space with masses $35\,{\rm keV}\lesssim m_\chi \lesssim 200\,{\rm keV}$ and charges $10^{-10}\lesssim q \lesssim 10^{-9}$, which remains unconstrained by existing astrophysical probes. If confirmed, recent gravitational wave observations placing the lower edge of the mass gap near $45\,{\rm M}_\odot$ would translate directly into bounds on this parameter space.
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Millicharged Particle Constraints from Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars
New upper bounds on millicharged particles (masses 10-100 keV, charges down to 5e-13) from the AGB-to-HB star ratio in globular clusters, improving prior limits by up to two orders of magnitude.