Dark stars: dark matter in the first stars leads to a new phase of stellar evolution

The _x000C_first phase of stellar evolution in the history of the universe may be Dark Stars, powered by dark matter heating rather than by fusion. Weakly interacting massive particles, which are their own antiparticles, can annihilate and provide an important heat source for the fi_x000C_rst stars in the the universe. This talk presents the story of these Dark Stars. We make predictions that the _x000C_first stars are very massive (~ 800M_x000C_), cool (6000 K), bright (~ 106L_x000C_), long-lived (~ 106 years), and probable precursors to (otherwise unexplained) supermassive black holes. Later, once the initial DM fuel runs out and fusion sets in, DM annihilation can predominate again if the scattering cross section is strong enough, so that a Dark Star is born again.