ENERGY LOSS FROM THE SUN AND RED GIANTS: BOUNDS ON SHORT-RANGE BARYONIC AND LEPTONIC FORCES

Abstract

Laboratory, geophysical and astronomical data can place severe limits on forces weaker than gravity whose ranges typically go from ~ 1 cm up to astronomical distances. Forces strictly microscopic, however, lie beyond reach of Cavendish-type and geophysical experiments as well as astronomical observations. By computing the stellar energy loss caused by new hypothetical forces coupled to baryon and/or lepton charges and by demanding that this energy drain does not upset current stellar evolutionary models, we put restrictions on forces with a range larger than or ~ 1 Å.