2024/10/09 by Diego Blas, Silvia Gasparotto, Blas, Diego +3 · 4 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) #Scientific Research and Discoveries
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2410.07330
openalex publication_date 2024/10/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Ultra-light bosons, naturally appearing in well-motivated extensions to the Standard Model, can constitute all the dark matter. Models with particle mass close to the smallest phenomenologically allowed exhibit coherent field configurations at (sub)galactic scales, oscillating at a frequency corresponding to the fundamental mass of the dark matter particle. The gravitational field of these structures inherits the dark matter field's coherent oscillations, leaving an imprint on gravitational (and electromagnetic) waves sourced close to (or in) such overdensities. This happens via a heterodyning frequency modulation, which can later be decoded in a gravitational-wave detector. An analogous effect occurs in models with universal (conformal) couplings of ultra-light bosons with ordinary matter, generated by the direct interaction with the oscillating field. In this work, we explore this phenomenon in detail and assess the capability of near-future interferometers to probe ultra-light dark matter and its potential conformal couplings to matter. Using astrophysical population models, together with results from cosmological simulations, we find that the observation of gravitational waves from spinning neutron stars at the Galactic Centre with the Einstein Telescope/Cosmic Explorer would be particularly effective in constraining ultra-light dark matter.