Abstract
Nonstandard theories of fundamental interactions typically predict the existence of new kinds of weakly interacting particles. These can escape freely from stellar interiors and act as additional source of cooling. Considerable agreement of a variety of astrophysical observations with standard physics can serve as a source of constraints on non-standard ideas. In this paper we consider G117-B15A pulsating white dwarf for which the secular rate, at which the period of its fundamental mode increases, has been accurately measured. This star has been claimed the most stable oscillator ever recorded in the optical band. Because an additional channel of energy loss would speedup the cooling rate, one is able to use this stability to derive a bound on axion mass and on theories with large extra dimensions. We also point to the possibility of using similar arguments to constrain supersymmetric paticles.
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Biesiada, M., Malec, B. White Dwarf Constraints On Exotic Physics. Astrophysics and Space Science 283, 601–606 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022582802326
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022582802326