Pulsar timing signal from ultralight scalar dark matter
- Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics, Ludwig Maximilians University, Theresienstr. 37, Munich, 80333 (Germany)
- Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 60th October Anniversary Prospect, 7a, Moscow, 117312 (Russian Federation)
An ultralight free scalar field with mass around 10{sup −23}−10{sup −22} eV is a viable dark mater candidate, which can help to resolve some of the issues of the cold dark matter on sub-galactic scales. We consider the gravitational field of the galactic halo composed out of such dark matter. The scalar field has oscillating in time pressure, which induces oscillations of gravitational potential with amplitude of the order of 10{sup −15} and frequency in the nanohertz range. This frequency is in the range of pulsar timing array observations. We estimate the magnitude of the pulse arrival time residuals induced by the oscillating gravitational potential. We find that for a range of dark matter masses, the scalar field dark matter signal is comparable to the stochastic gravitational wave signal and can be detected by the planned SKA pulsar timing array experiment.
- OSTI ID:
- 22369767
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2014, Issue 02; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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