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Neutron dark decay and exotic compact objects

M. Vikiaris1, V. Petousis2, M. Veselsky2, and Ch. C. Moustakidis1

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 043032 – Published 12 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/21p6-sqfh

Abstract

Recent measurements of the compact star XTE J1814-338, with a mass of M=1.2−0.05+0.05M⊙ and a radius of R=7−0.4+0.4  km, alongside those of HESS J1731-347, which has a mass of M=0.77−0.17+0.20M⊙ and a radius of R=10.4−0.78+0.86  km, provide indicative evidence for the potential existence of exotic matter in neutron star cores. These observations offer important insights into the equation of state of dense nuclear matter. Recently, Fornal and Grinstein, in order to overcome the discrepancy between the neutron lifetime measured in beam and bottle experiments, proposed the existence of neutron dark decay. In the present work, an effort is made to connect the interpretation of the above exotic compact objects with the possible existence of dark particles, assumed to be products of neutron dark decay. Our hypothesis offers an advantage over comparable proposals, as the coexistence of dark matter and hadronic matter within neutron stars emerges from an intrinsic mechanism, thereby obviating the need to invoke external merger-related processes. It is still unclear to what extent the proposed dark decay of the neutron is affected by the extreme environment within neutron stars. Within this framework, we examined the case in which a mechanism suppressing the dark neutron decay becomes operative at densities few times above nuclear saturation density. We found that the proposed alternative explanation accommodates the simultaneous existence of neutron dark decay while consistently predicting both the two-solar-mass limit and the presence of compact objects extending into the low-mass and subsolar-mass regime.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 043032– Published 12 August, 2026
  • Received 4 February 2026
  • Accepted 20 July 2026
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