Observational prospects of self-interacting scalar superradiance with next-generation gravitational-wave detectors

Abstract

Current- and next-generation gravitational-wave observatories may reveal new, ultralight bosons. Through the superradiance process, these theoretical particle candidates can form clouds around astrophysical black holes and result in detectable gravitational-wave radiation. In the absence of detections, constraints$-$contingent on astrophysical assumptions$-$have been derived using LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA data on boson masses. However, the searches for ultralight scalars to date have not adequately considered self-interactions between particles. Self-interactions that significantly alter superradiance dynamics are generically present for many scalar models, including axion-like dark matter candidates and string axions. We implement the most complete treatment of particle self-interactions available to determine the gravitational-wave signatures expected from superradiant scalar clouds and revisit the constraints obtained in a past gravitational-wave search targeting the black hole in Cygnus X-1. We also project the reach of next-generation gravitational-wave observatories to scalar particle parameter space in the mass-coupling plane. We find that while proposed observatories have insufficient reach to self-interactions that can halt black hole spin-down, next-generation observatories are essential for expanding the search beyond gravitational parameter space and can reach a mass and interaction scale of $\sim 10^{-13}-10^{-12}$ eV/c${}^2$ and $\gtrsim 10^{17}$ GeV, respectively.

References in corpus (28)

• Advanced Virgo: a 2nd generation interferometric gravitational wave detector
• Advanced LIGO
• Discovering the QCD Axion with Black Holes and Gravitational Waves
• Instability of the massive Klein-Gordon field on the Kerr spacetime
• Gravitational wave searches for ultralight bosons with LIGO and LISA
• Cygnus X-1 contains a 21-solar mass black hole -- implications for massive star winds
• Black holes as particle detectors: evolution of superradiant instabilities
• Superradiant instabilities in astrophysical systems
• Stochastic and resolvable gravitational waves from ultralight bosons
• Bosenova collapse of axion cloud around a rotating black hole
• Searches for Continuous-Wave Gravitational Radiation
• Discovery of a dormant 33 solar-mass black hole in pre-release Gaia astrometry
• The jet-powered optical nebula of Cygnus X-1
• Gravitational wave signatures of ultralight vector bosons from black hole superradiance
• A first search for a stochastic gravitational-wave background from ultralight bosons
• Constraints on ultralight scalar bosons within black hole spin measurements from LIGO-Virgo's GWTC-2
• All-sky search for gravitational wave emission from scalar boson clouds around spinning black holes in LIGO O3 data
• Search for continuous gravitational wave emission from the Milky Way center in O3 LIGO--Virgo data
• Dark photon superradiance: Electrodynamics and multimessenger signals
• SuperRad: Modeling the black hole superradiance gravitational waveform
• Hidden Markov model tracking of continuous gravitational waves from a binary neutron star with wandering spin. II. Binary orbital phase tracking
• Dark photon vortex formation and dynamics
• Vortex String Formation in Black Hole Superradiance of a Dark Photon with the Higgs Mechanism
• Probing the string axiverse by gravitational waves from Cygnus X-1
• Impact of multiple modes on the evolution of self-interacting axion condensate around rotating black holes
• Black hole spin of Cyg X-1 determined from the softest state ever observed
• Clocking Out Superradiance Limits
• Methods and prospects for gravitational wave searches targeting ultralight vector boson clouds around known black holes

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Gravitational wave probes of particle dark matter: a review
• Self-Gravity Effects of Ultralight Boson Clouds Formed by Black Hole Superradiance
• Black Holes as Fermion Factories
• Search for continuous gravitational wave signals from luminous dark photon superradiance clouds with LVK O3 observations
• Ultralight boson constraints from gravitational wave observations of spinning binary black holes
• Methodology for constraining ultralight vector bosons with gravitational wave searches targeting merger remnant black holes
• Scalar fields around black hole binaries in LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA
• Vortex Lines in Ultralight Bosonic Dark Matter around Rotating Supermassive Black Holes
• Boson Cloud Atlas: Direct mass measurements of superradiance clouds near black holes
• Relativistic frequency shifts in gravitational waves from axion clouds