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Astrophysics

Title: Dark Matter with Time-Dependent Mass

Abstract: We propose a simple model in which the cosmological dark matter consists of particles whose mass increases with the scale factor of the universe. The particle mass is generated by the expectation value of a scalar field which does not have a stable vacuum state, but which is effectively stabilized by the rest energy of the ambient particles. As the universe expands, the density of particles decreases, leading to an increase in the vacuum expectation value of the scalar (and hence the mass of the particle). The energy density of the coupled system of variable-mass particles (``vamps'') redshifts more slowly than that of ordinary matter. Consequently, the age of the universe is larger than in conventional scenarios.
Comments: 14 pages, 2 figures; based on a talk by SMC at Cosmo-97, September 1997, Ambleside, England. Important references added
Subjects: Astrophysics (astro-ph); High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
Report number: NSF-ITP-97-146
Cite as: arXiv:astro-ph/9711288v2

Submission history

From: Sean Carroll [view email]
[v1] Mon, 24 Nov 1997 22:45:25 GMT (24kb)
[v2] Wed, 26 Nov 1997 00:39:18 GMT (24kb)