Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userGravitational wave probes of dark matter: challenges and opportunities
141
0
0.0
(
0
)
Added by
Bradley James Kavanagh
Publication date
2019
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
In this white paper, we discuss the prospects for characterizing and identifying dark matter using gravitational waves, covering a wide range of dark matter candidate types and signals. We argue that present and upcoming gravitational wave probes offer unprecedented opportunities for unraveling the nature of dark matter and we identify the most urgent challenges and open problems with the aim of encouraging a strong community effort at the interface between these two exciting fields of research.
rate research
Read More
Wave Dark Matter (WaveDM) has recently gained attention as a viable candidate to account for the dark matter content of the Universe. In this paper we explore the extent to which dark matter halos in this model, and under what conditions, are able to reproduce strong lensing systems. First, we analytically explore the lensing properties of the model -- finding that a pure WaveDM density profile, a soliton profile, produces a weaker lensing effect than other similar cored profiles. Then we analyze models with a soliton embedded in an NFW profile, as has been found in numerical simulations of structure formation. We use a benchmark model with a boson mass of $m_a=10^{-22}{rm eV}$, for which we see that there is a bi-modality in the contribution of the external NFW part of the profile, and actually some of the free parameters associated with it are not well constrained. We find that for configurations with boson masses $10^{-23}$ -- $10^{-22}{rm eV}$, a range of masses preferred by dwarf galaxy kinematics, the soliton profile alone can fit the data but its size is incompatible with the luminous extent of the lens galaxies. Likewise, boson masses of the order of $10^{-21}{rm eV}$, which would be consistent with Lyman-$alpha$ constraints and consist of more compact soliton configurations, necessarily require the NFW part in order to reproduce the observed Einstein radii. We then conclude that lens systems impose a conservative lower bound $m_a > 10^{-24}$ and that the NFW envelope around the soliton must be present to satisfy the observational requirements.
We study the decay of gravitational waves into dark energy fluctuations $pi$, through the processes $gamma to pipi$ and $gamma to gamma pi$, made possible by the spontaneous breaking of Lorentz invariance. Within the EFT of Dark Energy (or Horndeski/beyond Horndeski theories) the first process is large for the operator $frac12 tilde m_4^2(t) , delta g^{00}, left( {}^{(3)}! R + delta K_mu^ u delta K^mu_ u -delta K^2 right)$, so that the recent observations force $tilde m_4 =0$ (or equivalently $alpha_{rm H}=0$). This constraint, together with the requirement that gravitational waves travel at the speed of light, rules out all quartic and quintic GLPV theories. Additionally, we study how the same couplings affect the propagation of gravitons at loop order. The operator proportional to $tilde m_4^2$ generates a calculable, non-Lorentz invariant higher-derivative correction to the graviton propagation. The modification of the dispersion relation provides a bound on $tilde m_4^2$ comparable to the one of the decay. Conversely, operators up to cubic Horndeski do not generate sizeable higher-derivative corrections.
We study preheating in plateau inflation in the Palatini formulation of general relativity, in a special case that resembles Higgs inflation. It was previously shown that the oscillating inflaton field returns to the plateau repeatedly in this model, and this leads to tachyonic production of inflaton particles. We show that a minimally coupled spectator scalar field can be produced even more efficiently by a similar mechanism. The mechanism is purely gravitational, and the scalar field mass can be of order $10^{13}$ GeV, larger than the Hubble scale by many orders of magnitude, making this a candidate for superheavy dark matter.
The axion is a hypothetical, well-motivated dark-matter particle whose existence would explain the lack of charge-parity violation in the strong interaction. In addition to this original motivation, an `axiverse of ultra-light axions (ULAs) with masses $10^{-33},{rm eV}lesssim m_{rm a}lesssim 10^{-10},{rm eV}$ also emerges from string theory. Depending on the mass, such a ULA contributes to the dark-matter density, or alternatively, behaves like dark energy. At these masses, ULAs classical wave-like properties are astronomically manifested, potentially mitigating observational tensions within the $Lambda$CDM paradigm on local-group scales. ULAs also provide signatures on small scales such as suppression of structure, interference patterns and solitons to distinguish them from heavier dark matter candidates. Through their gravitational imprint, ULAs in the presently allowed parameter space furnish a host of observational tests to target in the next decade, altering standard predictions for microwave background anisotropies, galaxy clustering, Lyman-$alpha$ absorption by neutral hydrogen along quasar sightlines, pulsar timing, and the black-hole mass spectrum.
The nature of dark matter is one of the most pressing questions in particle physics. Yet all our present knowledge of the dark sector to date comes from its gravitational interactions with astrophysical systems. Moreover, astronomical results still have immense potential to constrain the particle properties of dark matter. We introduce a simple 2D parameter space which classifies models in terms of a particle physics interaction strength and a characteristic astrophysical scale on which new physics appears, in order to facilitate communication between the fields of particle physics and astronomy. We survey the known astrophysical anomalies that are suggestive of non-trivial dark matter particle physics, and present a theoretical and observational program for future astrophysical measurements that will shed light on the nature of dark matter.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
