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  • Open Access

Constraints on Symmetric Dark Matter from Neutron Star Capture and Collapse

Yuxin Liu1,*, Zhen Liu2,†, Maxim Pospelov2,3,‡, and Sanjay Reddy4,§

  • *Contact author: liuyuxin211@mails.ucas.ac.cn
  • †Contact author: zliuphys@umn.edu
  • ‡Contact author: pospelov@umn.edu
  • §Contact author: sareddy@uw.edu
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 201002 – Published 19 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/5wsg-z61z

Abstract

Dark matter (DM) models with a conserved particle-antiparticle number, nχ−nχ˜, and the asymmetry in the cosmological abundance nχ≠nχ˜, are known to be challenged by the existence of old neutron stars (NSs), as the sufficient accumulation of DM will lead to the collapse of NSs into black holes. We demonstrate that the applicability of these constraints is much wider and covers models with symmetric populations of DM, nχ=nχ˜, as the process of DM capture regulated by a nucleon-DM scattering can be inherently asymmetric, σχn≠σχ˜n. The asymmetry is induced by the interference of different types of χ−n interactions, provided that their combination is odd under charge conjugation in the DM sector, Cχ, and even under combined parity Pχ+n. We provide a complete analysis of DM-nucleon bilinear χ−n interactions and find that this asymmetry is very generic. Using canonical NS parameters and local DM halo inputs, we exclude spin-averaged scattering cross sections down to σnχ≳10−46  cm2 at DM mass mχ≲1010  GeV for the maximally asymmetric capture rate and show that the constraints persist down to very small values of the cross-section asymmetry, A=(σχn−σχ˜n)/(σχn+σχ˜n)≳10−5.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 201002– Published 19 May, 2026
  • Received 10 August 2025
  • Revised 23 February 2026
  • Accepted 7 April 2026
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