Dark Matter-induced Collapse of Neutron Stars: A Possible Link Between Fast Radio Bursts and the Missing Pulsar Problem

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are an emerging class of short and bright radio transients whose sources remain enigmatic. Within the galactic center, the non-detection of pulsars within the inner $\sim \!10\,{\rm pc}$ has created a missing pulsar problem that has intensified with time. With all reserve, we advance the notion that the two problems could be linked by a common solution: the collapse of neutron stars (NS) due to capture and sedimentation of dark matter (DM) within their cores. Bramante \& Linden (2014), Phys.\ Rev.\ Lett.~19, 191301 showed that certain DM properties allow for rapid NS collapse within the high DM density environments near galactic centers while permitting NS survival elsewhere. Each DM-induced collapse could generate an FRB as the NS magnetosphere is suddenly expelled. This scenario could explain several features of FRBs: their short time scales, large energies, locally produced scattering tails, and high event rates. We predict that FRBs are localized to galactic centers, and that our own galactic center harbors a large population of NS-mass ($M\sim1.4 M_\odot$) black holes. The DM-induced collapse scenario is intrinsically unlikely because it can only occur in a small region of allowable DM parameter space. However, if observed to occur, it would place tight constraints on DM properties.