Millicharged Particle Constraints from Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars
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arXiv
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866914614822830080 |
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| author | Fiorillo, Damiano F. G. Lucente, Giuseppe Sakstein, Jeremy Vitagliano, Edoardo |
| author_facet | Fiorillo, Damiano F. G. Lucente, Giuseppe Sakstein, Jeremy Vitagliano, Edoardo |
| contents | We investigate the effect of millicharged particles (MCPs) with electric charge $qe\ll e$ and mass $m_χ$ on the late-stage evolution phases of low-mass stars in globular clusters. We predict the $R_2$ parameter -- the ratio of the number of stars in the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase to the number of stars in the horizontal branch (HB) phase -- and compare it against globular cluster data. While the production of MCPs shortens both the HB and AGB lifetimes, a larger reduction in the AGB phase arises from the higher temperatures in the helium-burning shell. We find the strongest bounds in the range $10\,\mathrm{keV}\lesssim m_χ\lesssim 100\,\mathrm{keV}$, reaching charges as small as $q\simeq 5\times10^{-13}$ and surpassing existing constraints by up to two orders of magnitude. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_30422 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Millicharged Particle Constraints from Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars Fiorillo, Damiano F. G. Lucente, Giuseppe Sakstein, Jeremy Vitagliano, Edoardo High Energy Physics - Phenomenology Solar and Stellar Astrophysics We investigate the effect of millicharged particles (MCPs) with electric charge $qe\ll e$ and mass $m_χ$ on the late-stage evolution phases of low-mass stars in globular clusters. We predict the $R_2$ parameter -- the ratio of the number of stars in the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase to the number of stars in the horizontal branch (HB) phase -- and compare it against globular cluster data. While the production of MCPs shortens both the HB and AGB lifetimes, a larger reduction in the AGB phase arises from the higher temperatures in the helium-burning shell. We find the strongest bounds in the range $10\,\mathrm{keV}\lesssim m_χ\lesssim 100\,\mathrm{keV}$, reaching charges as small as $q\simeq 5\times10^{-13}$ and surpassing existing constraints by up to two orders of magnitude. |
| title | Millicharged Particle Constraints from Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars |
| topic | High Energy Physics - Phenomenology Solar and Stellar Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.30422 |