Multiband photometry of rich Abell clusters: Constraints on the dwarf star content of dark matter

We present results of large-aperture (similar to 1') JK photometry and CCD BVRI photometry near the centers of three distant (0.11 less than or equal to z less than or equal to 0.22), rich Abell clusters of galaxies. The colors of the integrated light are consistent with those of nearby E and SO galaxies. The absence of anomalous reddening implies that no more than 2 h(-1)% (1 sigma limit) of the dark matter in these clusters can be in the form of low-mass (similar to 0.1 M.) subdwarfs or old disk dwarfs. The limit increases to 3 h(-1)% if expressed in terms of zero-metallicity dwarfs. These results constrain the mass function of baryonic objects which might contribute to the dark matter.