How do you search for invisible hypothetical particles? One way is to see how quickly they could kill white dwarfs — the dense, leftover cores of dead stars.
In recent years, astronomers have become increasingly interested in a theoretical particle known as the axion, which was concocted decades ago to solve a challenging problem with the strong nuclear force. After initial attempts to find it in particle collider experiments turned up empty, however, the idea sunk into the background.
