Course ppt
Dark Matter and Dark Stars
The mini research work was done as part of a course work assignemnt, PHN-331, Nuclear Astrophysics. The assignment was to select a research topic and prepare 15 min short video presentation as part of submission. Interested in astrophysics and stellar evolution, I selected topic Dark Stars and Dark Matter.
The submission is available at Github and GDrive
Brief about the presentation
In the work, I discussed about the general discription of matter and dark matter, their possible implication in the formation and powering of early stars (Population III stars) and possible evolutionary step for super-massive black holes. Additionally, I discuss their birth in the dark matter halos and journey from dark matter powered to nuclear powered stars.
Why the work is interesting ?
Matter and dark matter are two fundamental substances that make up the universe. Matter refers to the ordinary matter that constitutes the stars, planets, and galaxies we observe, while dark matter is an unseen substance that is thought to comprise most of the mass in the universe.
Dark matter is theorized to influence the formation and evolution of galaxies, black holes, and other cosmic structures. In the early universe, population III stars, the first stars to form, likely formed within the densest regions where dark matter's gravitational influence helped gather and collapse gas into the stars. Black holes, some of the most mysterious objects in the universe, are regions of space where the gravitational force is so strong that nothing, including light, can't escape. It is believed that these first stars eventually within the dense regions of dark matter laid the path to supermassive black holes with masses millions to billions times the solar mass. Despite its importance, the true nature of dark matter still remains a mystery, and researchers are actively working on learning more about this enigmatic substance.
Papers I refer to prepare the work
- Freese, K., Rindler-Daller, T., Spolyar, D., and Valluri, M., “Dark stars: a review”, Reports on Progress in Physics, vol. 79, no. 6, 2016. doi:10.1088/0034-4885/79/6/066902.
- Bertone, G. and Hooper, D., “History of dark matter”, Reviews of Modern Physics, vol. 90, no. 4, 2018. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.90.045002.