DAMIDA · Dark Matter and Stars in the Dark Ages

The possibility that the first stars in the universe may be powered by dark matter annihilation rather than nuclear fusion has been recently proposed in the literature. This intriguing phenomenology defines a new field, in which particle dark matter properties affect the characteristics of astrophysical populations in the young universe. In DAMiDA we propose a thorough approach to the problem: stellar evolution in the presence of dark matter annihilation, the survival of these stars through the evolution of the first galaxies, the nature and impact of the feedback of these objects on the formation and evolution of subsequent structures will all be addressed with different techniques. The final aim is to provide links between dark matter properties and astrophysical observables of high redshift. This will allow the particle and astro physics communities to either use forthcoming astrophysical data, provided by means of planned observational campaigns to constrain the nature of elusive dark matter, and particle experiments aimed to study the nature of dark matter to shed light on the high redshift universe.