Speaker
Description
I will talk about the inclusion of axions and millicharge particles (MCPs) in stellar evolution. Axions are considered a promising candidate for dark matter due to their small mass and the potential for large-scale production in stellar environments, which can significantly affect stellar evolution. A similar argument can be said with the inclusion of MCPs in stars. Cepheid variables are particularly sensitive to axion or MCP production, as it may eliminate evolutionary stages of Cepheids. This alteration effectively removes the blue loop phase of Cepheids, leading to constraints on the axion photon coupling $g_{10}$ and MCP fractional charge $\epsilon_{\chi}$.To investigate this, we simulate a grid of models using MESA ranging from 4-12$M_{\odot}$ varying convective overshoot, rotation, $g_{10}$, and $\epsilon_{\chi}$. We compare our models to observations of s Musaca and Su Cygni. We find that including more massive Cepheids leads to stronger bounds.
