Ultralight Bosons Research Articles

Dynamical friction in rotating ultralight dark matter galactic cores

Abstract Dynamical friction and stellar orbital motion in spiral galaxies with dark matter composed of ultralight bosons in the state of rotating Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) are studied. It is found that the dynamical friction force is significantly affected by the topological charge of the vortex structure of the BEC core with the strongest effect at distances near the galactic center. It is also shown that the ultralight dark matter self-interaction plays an important role in studying the dynamical friction.

Phenomenology of ultralight bosons around compact objects: In-medium suppression

Mixing between ultralight bosons and the Standard Model photon may allow access to the hitherto invisible Universe. In the presence of plasma, photons are dressed with an effective mass which will influence the conversion between the two. We study this phenomenon, known as , in the context of black hole physics. We consider both axion-photon mixing around charged black holes and dark photon-photon mixing around neutral black holes. We find that the presence of plasma indeed influences the conversion rate, possibly quenching it altogether for large plasma densities, and discuss implications for superradiance and observational signatures. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Probing the quantum nature of black holes with ultralight boson environments

Probing the quantum nature of black holes with ultralight boson environments

Constraints on fifth forces and ultralight dark matter from OSIRIS-REx target asteroid Bennu

It is important to test the possible existence of fifth forces, as ultralight bosons that would mediate these are predicted to exist in several well-motivated extensions of the Standard Model. Recent work indicated asteroids as promising probes, but applications to real data are lacking so far. Here we use the OSIRIS-REx mission and ground-based tracking data for the asteroid Bennu to derive constraints on fifth forces. Our limits are strongest for mediator masses m ~ (10−18-10−17) eV, where we currently achieve the tightest bounds. These can be translated to a wide class of models leading to Yukawa-type fifth forces, and we demonstrate how they apply to U(1)B dark photons and baryon-coupled scalars. Our results demonstrate the potential of asteroid tracking in probing well-motivated extensions of the Standard Model and ultralight bosons near the fuzzy dark matter range.

Extreme-Mass-Ratio Inspirals in Ultralight Dark Matter.

Previous works have argued that future gravitational-wave detectors will be able to probe the properties of astrophysical environments where binaries coalesce, including accretion disks, but also dark matter structures. Most analyses have resorted to a Newtonian modeling of the environmental effects, which are not suited to study extreme-mass-ratio inspirals immersed in structures of ultralight bosons. In this Letter, we use relativistic perturbation theory to consistently study these systems in spherical symmetry. We compute the flux of scalar particles and the rate at which orbital energy is dissipated via gravitational radiation and depletion of scalars, i.e., dynamical friction. Our results confirm that the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna will be able to probe ultralight dark matter structures by tracking the phase of extreme-mass-ratio inspirals.

Do neutrinos bend? Consequences of an ultralight gauge field as dark matter

An ultralight gauge boson could address the missing cosmic dark matter, with its transverse modes contributing to a relevant component of the galactic halo today. We show that, in the presence of a coupling between the gauge boson and neutrinos, these transverse modes affect the propagation of neutrinos in the galactic core. Neutrinos emitted from galactic or extra-galactic supernovae could be delayed by δt=10−8–101s for the gauge boson masses mA′=10−23–10−19eV and the coupling with the neutrino g=10−27–10−20. While we do not focus on a specific formation mechanism for the gauge boson as the dark matter in the early Universe, we comment on some possible realizations. We discuss model-dependent current bounds on the gauge coupling from fifth-force experiments, as well as future explorations involving supernovae neutrinos. We consider the concrete case of the DUNE facility, where the coupling can be tested down to g≃10−27 for neutrinos coming from a supernova event at a distance d=10kpc from Earth.

Legacy of Boson Clouds on Black Hole Binaries.

Superradiant clouds of ultralight bosons can leave an imprint on the gravitational waveform of black hole binaries through "ionization" and "resonances." We study the sequence of resonances as the binary evolves and show that there are only two possible outcomes, each with a distinct imprint on the waveform. If the cloud and the binary are nearly counterrotating, then the cloud survives in its original state until it enters the sensitivity band of future gravitational wave detectors, such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. In all other cases, resonances destroy the cloud while driving the binary to corotate with it and its eccentricity close to a fixed point. This opens up the possibility of inferring the existence of a new boson from the statistical analysis of a population of black hole binaries.

Signatures of Ultralight Bosons in the Orbital Eccentricity of Binary Black Holes.

We show that the existence of clouds of ultralight particles surrounding black holes during their cosmological history as members of a binary system can leave a measurable imprint on the distribution of masses and orbital eccentricities observable with future gravitational-wave detectors. Notably, we find that for nonprecessing binaries with chirp masses M≲10M_{⊙}, formed exclusively in isolation, larger-than-expected values of the eccentricity, i.e., e≳10^{-2} at gravitational-wave frequencies f_{GW}≃10^{-2} Hz, would provide tantalizing evidence for a new particle of mass between [0.5,2.5]×10^{-12} eV in nature. The predicted evolution of the eccentricity can also drastically affect the in-band phase evolution and peak frequency. These results constitute unique signatures of boson clouds of ultralight particles in the dynamics of binary black holes, which will be readily accessible with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, as well as future midband and decihertz detectors.

Bounds on ultralight bosons from the Event Horizon Telescope observation of Sgr A∗\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^*$$\\end{document}

Recent observation of Sagittarius A∗\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^*$$\\end{document} (Sgr A∗\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^*$$\\end{document}) by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration has uncovered various unanswered questions in black hole (BH) physics. Besides, it may also probe various beyond the Standard Model (BSM) scenarios. One of the most profound possibilities is the search for ultralight bosons (ULBs) using BH superradiance (SR). EHT observations imply that Sgr A∗\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^*$$\\end{document} has a non-zero spin. Using this observation, we derive bounds on the mass of ULBs with purely gravitational interactions. Considering self-interacting ultralight axions, we constrain new regions in the parameter space of decay constant, for a certain spin of Sgr A∗\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^*$$\\end{document}. Future observations of various spinning BHs can improve the present constraints on ULBs.

An attractive model: simulating fuzzy dark matter with attractive self-interactions

Abstract Fuzzy Dark Matter (FDM) comprised of ultralight ($m \sim 10^{-22}~\rm {eV}$) boson particles has received significant attention as a viable alternative to Cold Dark Matter (CDM), as it approximates CDM on large scales (≳ 1 Mpc) while potentially resolving some of its small-scale problems via kiloparsec-scale quantum interference. However, the most basic FDM model, with one free parameter (the boson mass), is subject to a tension: small boson masses yield the desired cores of dwarf galaxies but underpredict structure in the Lyman-α forest, while large boson masses render FDM effectively identical to CDM. This Catch-22 problem may be alleviated by considering an axion-like particle with attractive particle self-interactions. We simulate an idealized FDM halo with self-interactions parameterized by an energy decay constant $f \sim 10^{15}~\rm {GeV}$ related to the axion symmetry-breaking conjectured to solve the strong-CP problem in particle physics. We observe solitons, a hallmark of FDM, condensing within a broader halo envelope, and find that the density profile and soliton mass depend on self-interaction strength. We propose generalized formulae to extend those from previous works to include self-interactions. We also investigate a critical mass threshold predicted for strong interactions at which the soliton collapses into a compact, unresolved state. We find that the collapse happens quickly and its effects are initially contained to the central region of the halo.

Probing ultralight scalar, vector and tensor dark matter with pulsar timing arrays

Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are sensitive to oscillations in the gravitational potential along the line-of-sight due to ultralight particle pressure. We calculate the probing power of PTAs for ultralight bosons across all frequencies, from those larger than the inverse observation time to those smaller than the inverse distance to the pulsar. We show that since the signal amplitude grows comparably to the degradation in PTA sensitivity at frequencies smaller than inverse observation time, the discovery potential can be extended towards lower masses by over three decades, maintaining high precision. We demonstrate that, in the mass range 10−26−10−23 eV, existing 15-year PTA data can robustly detect or rule out an ultralight component down to O(1−10)% of the total dark matter. Non-detection, together with other bounds in different mass ranges, will imply that ultralight scalar/axion can comprise at most 1−10% of dark matter in the 10−30−10−17 eV range. With 30 years of observation, current PTAs can extend the reach down to 0.1−1%, while next-generation PTAs such as SKA can attain the 0.01−0.1% precision. We generalize and derive predictions for ultralight spin-1 vector (i.e. dark photon) and spin-2 tensor dark components.

Probing ultralight tensor dark matter with the stochastic gravitational-wave background from advanced LIGO and Virgo's first three observing runs

Ultralight bosons are attractive dark-matter candidates and appear in various scenarios beyond standard model. They can induce superradiant instabilities around spinning black holes (BHs), extracting the energy and angular momentum from BHs, and then dissipate through monochromatic gravitational radiation, which become promising sources of gravitational wave detectors. In this letter, we focus on massive tensor fields coupled to BHs and compute the stochastic gravitational wave backgrounds emitted by these sources. We then undertake a search for this background within the data from LIGO/Virgo O1∼O3 runs. Our analysis reveals no discernible evidence of such signals, allowing us to impose stringent limits on the mass range of tensor bosons. Specifically, we exclude the existence of tensor bosons with masses ranging from 4.0 × 10-14 to 2.0 × 10-12 eV at 95% confidence level.

Galactic disc heating by density granulation in fuzzy dark matter simulations

Abstract Fuzzy dark matter (FDM), an attractive dark matter candidate comprising ultralight bosons (axions) with a particle mass ma ∼ 10−22 eV, is motivated by the small-scale challenges of cold dark matter and features a kpc-size de Broglie wavelength. Quantum wave interference inside an FDM halo gives rise to stochastically fluctuating density granulation; the resulting gravitational perturbations could drive significant disc thickening, providing a natural explanation for galactic thick discs. Here we present the first self-consistent simulations of FDM haloes and stellar discs, exploring ma = 0.2–1.2 × 10−22 eV and halo masses Mh = 0.7–2.8 × 1011 M⊙. Disc thickening is observed in all simulated systems. The disc heating rates are approximately constant in time and increase substantially with decreasing ma, reaching dh/dt ≃ 0.04 (0.4) kpc Gyr−1 and $d\sigma _z^2/dt \simeq 4$ (150) km2s−2Gyr−1 for ma = 1.2 (0.2) × 10−22 eV and $M_{\rm h}=7\times 10^{10} \, \rm {M}_{\odot }$, where h is the disc scale height and σz is the vertical velocity dispersion. These simulated heating rates agree within a factor of two with the theoretical estimates of Chiang et al., confirming that the rough estimate of Church et al. overpredicts the granulation-driven disc heating rate by two orders of magnitude. However, the simulation-inferred heating rates scale less steeply than the theoretically predicted relation $d\sigma ^2_z/dt \propto m_a^{-3}$. Finally, we examine the applicability of the Fokker–Planck approximation in FDM granulation modelling and the robustness of the ma exclusion bound derived from the Galactic disc kinematics.

Constraining the Existence of Axion Clouds in M87* with Closure Trace Analyses

Black holes can amplify incoming bosonic waves via rotational superradiance, inducing bound states of ultralight bosons around them. This phenomenon has the potential to confine the parameter spaces of new bosons. Axions and axion-like particles (ALPs) are candidate beyond-standard-model particles that can form such clouds around supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and impact the polarization signal in a similar fashion to Faraday rotation via axion–photon coupling. Prior efforts have used polarized images from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) M87 2017 observations to limit the dimensionless axion–photon coupling to previously unexplored regions. However, with the novel calibration-insensitive quantities, closure traces, and conjugate closure trace products, it is possible to constrain the existence of axion clouds while avoiding the dominant sources of systematic uncertainties, e.g., station gains and polarization leakages. We utilize a simple geometric model for the polarization map of M87* to fit the model parameters with both simulated and real data sets and reach a comparable level of constraint in the accuracy with which an axion cloud may be excluded in M87. Future applications of our approach include subsequent M87* and Sgr A* observations by EHT and the next-generation EHT that are expected to produce stronger constraints across a wider range of axion and ALP masses. Because it does not require imaging, closure trace analyses may be applied to target active galactic nuclei for which imaging is marginal, extending the number of SMBHs from which axion limits may be obtained significantly.

Extracting ultralight boson properties from boson clouds around postmerger remnants

Extracting ultralight boson properties from boson clouds around postmerger remnants

Refractive neutrino masses, ultralight dark matter and cosmology

We consider in detail a possibility that the observed neutrino oscillations are due to refraction on ultralight scalar boson dark matter.We introduce the refractive mass squared, m̃2, and study its properties: dependence on neutrino energy,state of the background, etc. If the background is in a state of cold gas of particles, m̃2 shows a resonance dependence on energy. Above the resonance (E ≫ ER ), we find that m̃2 has the same properties as usual vacuum mass squared.Below the resonance, m̃2 decreases with energy, which (if realised) allows to avoid the cosmological bound on the sum of neutrino masses. Also, m̃2 may depend on time. We consider the validity of the results: effects of multiple interactions with scalars, and modification of the dispersion relation. We show that for values of parameters of the system required toreproduce the observed neutrino masses, perturbativity is broken at low energies, which border above the resonance.If the background is in the state of coherent classical field, the refractive mass does not depend on energy explicitly but may showtime dependence. It coincides with the refractive mass in a cold gas at high energies.Refractive nature of neutrino mass can be tested by searches of its dependence on energy and time.

Constraining ultralight bosons in dwarf spheroidal galaxies with a radially varying anisotropy

Constraining ultralight bosons in dwarf spheroidal galaxies with a radially varying anisotropy

Signatures of ultralight bosons in compact binary inspiral and outspiral

Signatures of ultralight bosons in compact binary inspiral and outspiral

Fuzzy dark matter dynamics and the quasi-particle hypothesis

ABSTRACT Dark matter may be composed of ultralight bosons whose de Broglie wavelength in galaxies is $\lambda \sim 1\, {\rm kpc}$. The standard model for this fuzzy dark matter (FDM) is a complex scalar field that obeys the Schrödinger–Poisson equations. The wavelike nature of FDM leads to fluctuations in the gravitational field that can pump energy into the stellar components of a galaxy. Heuristic arguments and theoretical analyses suggest that these fluctuations can be modelled by replacing FDM with a system of quasi-particles (QPs). We test this hypothesis by comparing self-consistent simulations of a Schrödinger field with those using a system of QPs in one spatial dimension. Simulations of pure FDM systems allow us to derive a phenomenological relation between the number of QPs that is required to model FDM with a given de Broglie wavelength. We also simulate systems of FDM and stars and find that the FDM pumps energy into the stars whether it is described by QPs or a Schrödinger field with the FDM adiabatically contracting and the stellar system adiabatically expanding. However, we find that QPs overestimate dynamical heating.

Ultra-stable optical clock cavities as resonant mass gravitational wave detectors in search for new physics

We propose using table-top-size ultra-stable optical cavities from state-of-the-art optical atomic clocks as bar gravitational wave detectors for frequencies higher than 2 kHz. We show that the 2-20 kHz range of gravitational waves' spectrum can be accessed with instruments below 2 meters in size. The materials and properties of the proposed cavities are in the grasp of today's technology. The ultra-stable optical cavities allow detection not only predicted gravitational wave signals from such sources as binary neutron star mergers and post-mergers, subsolar-mass primordial black-hole mergers, and collapsing stellar cores, but can also reach new physics beyond the standard model, looking for ultralight bosons such as QCD axions and axion-like particles formed through black hole superradiance.