{
  "abstract": "We investigate how dark matter (DM) admixture modifies the conformal properties and phase structure of dense neutron-star matter within a self-consistent single-fluid framework, with the global DM fraction $F_χ=N_χ/N_B$ fixing the local relation $n_χ=F_χn_B$. We derive an exact decomposition of the total trace anomaly, $Δ_{\\rm tot}$, into microscopic contributions. For collider-motivated Higgs-portal benchmarks, explicit Higgs, vector-mediator, and contact-interaction contributions are negligible, while heavy nonrelativistic DM has an intrinsic trace anomaly close to the nonrelativistic limit, $Δ_χ\\simeq1/3$. Consequently, the DM rest-mass energy fraction dominates the DM-induced modification of $Δ_{\\rm tot}$, producing a smooth upward shift of up to $\\sim0.1$ for $F_χ\\sim0.2\\%$. In the pressureless, comoving heavy-WIMP regime, we further identify a universal dark-sector scaling governed by the mass-loading parameter $λ=F_χm_χ/m_N$: numerical calculations with different $(F_χ,m_χ)$ pairs at fixed $λ$ exhibit overlapping trace-anomaly, sound-speed, and mass--radius responses for a given baryonic equation of state. In hybrid stars, DM leaves the coexistence pressure and chemical potential essentially unchanged, whereas first-order hadron--quark deconfinement produces sharp discontinuities in the squared sound speed $c_s^2$, $Δ_{\\rm tot}$, and $Δ_{\\rm tot}-Δ_B$. The combined softening substantially reduces the maximum stellar mass, placing $F_χ\\sim0.2\\%$ in tension with the observed $2\\,M_\\odot$ neutron stars. These results show that the trace anomaly and its density evolution provide a sensitive diagnostic for distinguishing smooth DM-induced modifications of dense matter from genuine first-order deconfinement.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.01991",
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Adamu Issifu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Constança Providência"
    },
    {
      "name": "Tobias Frederico"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/aatrphv9ar73c.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.01991",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "aatrphv9ar73c",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.01991",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.HE"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-ph"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "nucl-th"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3103|Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7216108862",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.01991",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/aatrphv9ar73c.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:26:03Z",
      "native_id": "2610.01991",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.01991"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.HE",
      "subfield": "high-energy-astrophysics"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-ph",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:nucl-th",
      "subfield": "nuclear"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Trace-anomaly decomposition and universal dark matter scaling in compact stars",
  "title_text": "Trace-anomaly decomposition and universal dark matter scaling in compact stars",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:26:03Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/aatrphv9ar73c",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}