Bayesian Search of Massive Scalar Fields from LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Binaries

Abstract

Massive scalar fields are promising candidates to address many unresolved problems in fundamental physics. We report the first model-agnostic Bayesian search of massive scalar fields in LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA gravitational-wave data. We find no evidence for such fields and place the most stringent upper limits on their coupling for scalar masses $\lesssim 2\times 10^{-12}\mathrm{eV}$. We exemplify the strength of these bounds by applying them to massive scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, finding the tightest constraints on the coupling constant to date, $\sqrt{{\alpha }_{\mathrm{GB}}}\lesssim 1\mathrm{km}$ for scalar masses $\lesssim 10^{-13}\mathrm{eV}$ to 90% confidence.

9+11 pages, 8 figures, text and references updated with correction to a mistake in the previous analysis, v2 matches the version published in PRL

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