Searches for signatures of ultralight axion dark matter in polarimetry data of the European Pulsar Timing Array

Ultralight axionlike particles (ALPs) can be a viable solution to the dark matter problem. The scalar field associated with ALPs, coupled to the electromagnetic field acts as an active birefringent medium, altering the polarization properties of light through which it propagates. In particular, oscillations of the axionic field induce monochromatic variations of the plane of linearly polarized radiation of astrophysical signals. The radio emission of millisecond pulsars provides an excellent tool to search for such manifestations, given their high fractional linear polarization and negligible fluctuations of their polarization properties. We have searched for evidence of ALPs in polarimetry measurements of pulsars collected and preprocessed for the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) campaign. Focusing on the twelve brightest sources in linear polarization, we searched for an astrophysical signal from axions using both frequentist and Bayesian statistical frameworks. For the frequentist analysis, which uses Lomb-Scargle periodograms at its core, no statistically significant signal has been found. The model used for the Bayesian analysis has been adjusted to accommodate multiple deterministic systematics that may be present in the data. A statistically significant signal has been found in the dataset of multiple pulsars with common frequencies between <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:msup><a:mn>10</a:mn><a:mrow><a:mo>−</a:mo><a:mn>8</a:mn></a:mrow></a:msup></a:math> and <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><c:mrow><c:mn>2</c:mn><c:mo>×</c:mo><c:msup><c:mrow><c:mn>10</c:mn></c:mrow><c:mrow><c:mo>−</c:mo><c:mn>8</c:mn></c:mrow></c:msup><c:mtext> </c:mtext><c:mtext> </c:mtext><c:mi>Hz</c:mi></c:mrow></c:math>, which can most likely be explained by the residual Faraday rotation in the terrestrial ionosphere. Strong bounds on the coupling constant <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><e:msub><e:mi>g</e:mi><e:mrow><e:mi>a</e:mi><e:mi>γ</e:mi></e:mrow></e:msub></e:math>, in the same ballpark as other searches, have been obtained in the mass range between <g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><g:mrow><g:mn>6</g:mn><g:mo>×</g:mo><g:msup><g:mrow><g:mn>10</g:mn></g:mrow><g:mrow><g:mo>−</g:mo><g:mn>24</g:mn></g:mrow></g:msup></g:mrow></g:math> and <i:math xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><i:mrow><i:mn>5</i:mn><i:mo>×</i:mo><i:msup><i:mrow><i:mn>10</i:mn></i:mrow><i:mrow><i:mo>−</i:mo><i:mn>21</i:mn></i:mrow></i:msup><i:mtext> </i:mtext><i:mtext> </i:mtext><i:mi>eV</i:mi></i:mrow></i:math>. We conclude by discussing the problems that can limit the sensitivity of our search for ultralight axions in the polarimetry data of pulsars, and possible ways to resolve them.

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Journal
Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
Published
2025-03-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.062005
Citations
5
Primary Topic
Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
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article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
9.35

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article

Searches for signatures of ultralight axion dark matter in polarimetry data of the European Pulsar Timing Array

Matteo Bonetti, A. Samajdar, K. J. Lee, M. Krämer et al.
5 citations
Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
9.35
article

Searches for signatures of ultralight axion dark matter in polarimetry data of the European Pulsar Timing Array

Matteo Bonetti, A. Samajdar, K. J. Lee, M. Krämer, J. Jawor, M. B. Mickaliger, Ismaël Cognard, S. Babak, A. Chalumeau, R. N. Caballero, E. Graikou, K. Lackeos, C. Bassa, Y. Liu, D. J. Champion, J. R. Gair, Alberto Sesana, I. C. Niţu, C. Tiburzi, James W. McKee, M. Falxa, Andrea Possenti, Christopher Blanchard, S. A. Sanidas, A. Parthasarathy, Robert Main, Alessia Franchini, Lorenzo Speri, A. G. Lyne, E. van der Wateren, Siyuan Chen, К. А. Постнов, Aaron Golden, R. D. Ferdman, Antoine Petiteau, Diego Blas, G. Shaifullah, B. Goncharov, Enrico Barausse, A. Castillo, E. F. Keane, Paul R. Brook, M. Peel, G. Desvignes, J.‐M. Grießmeier, Ziwei Wu, S. Chanlaridis, R. Spiewak, V. Venkatraman Krishnan, B. W. Stappers, Kuo Liu, David Izquierdo–Villalba, Jorge Martin Camalich, Benetge B. P. Perera, M. Burgay, M. J. Keith, John Antoniadis, H. Hu, S. C. Susarla, M. A. Krishnakumar, R. Karuppusamy, G. H. Janssen, N. K. Porayko, G. Theureau, A. Jessner, Elisa Bortolas, D. Perrodin, Jorge Terol-Calvo, Lucas Guillemot, Hippolyte Quelquejay Leclere, F. Iraci, J. Jang, J. Wang, A. Vecchio, A-S Bak Nielsen, Y. J. Guo, P. Usynina
article en
5 citations

Abstract

Ultralight axionlike particles (ALPs) can be a viable solution to the dark matter problem. The scalar field associated with ALPs, coupled to the electromagnetic field acts as an active birefringent medium, altering the polarization properties of light through which it propagates. In particular, oscillations of the axionic field induce monochromatic variations of the plane of linearly polarized radiation of astrophysical signals. The radio emission of millisecond pulsars provides an excellent tool to search for such manifestations, given their high fractional linear polarization and negligible fluctuations of their polarization properties. We have searched for evidence of ALPs in polarimetry measurements of pulsars collected and preprocessed for the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) campaign. Focusing on the twelve brightest sources in linear polarization, we searched for an astrophysical signal from axions using both frequentist and Bayesian statistical frameworks. For the frequentist analysis, which uses Lomb-Scargle periodograms at its core, no statistically significant signal has been found. The model used for the Bayesian analysis has been adjusted to accommodate multiple deterministic systematics that may be present in the data. A statistically significant signal has been found in the dataset of multiple pulsars with common frequencies between <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:msup><a:mn>10</a:mn><a:mrow><a:mo>−</a:mo><a:mn>8</a:mn></a:mrow></a:msup></a:math> and <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><c:mrow><c:mn>2</c:mn><c:mo>×</c:mo><c:msup><c:mrow><c:mn>10</c:mn></c:mrow><c:mrow><c:mo>−</c:mo><c:mn>8</c:mn></c:mrow></c:msup><c:mtext> </c:mtext><c:mtext> </c:mtext><c:mi>Hz</c:mi></c:mrow></c:math>, which can most likely be explained by the residual Faraday rotation in the terrestrial ionosphere. Strong bounds on the coupling constant <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><e:msub><e:mi>g</e:mi><e:mrow><e:mi>a</e:mi><e:mi>γ</e:mi></e:mrow></e:msub></e:math>, in the same ballpark as other searches, have been obtained in the mass range between <g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><g:mrow><g:mn>6</g:mn><g:mo>×</g:mo><g:msup><g:mrow><g:mn>10</g:mn></g:mrow><g:mrow><g:mo>−</g:mo><g:mn>24</g:mn></g:mrow></g:msup></g:mrow></g:math> and <i:math xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><i:mrow><i:mn>5</i:mn><i:mo>×</i:mo><i:msup><i:mrow><i:mn>10</i:mn></i:mrow><i:mrow><i:mo>−</i:mo><i:mn>21</i:mn></i:mrow></i:msup><i:mtext> </i:mtext><i:mtext> </i:mtext><i:mi>eV</i:mi></i:mrow></i:math>. We conclude by discussing the problems that can limit the sensitivity of our search for ultralight axions in the polarimetry data of pulsars, and possible ways to resolve them.

Physical review. D/Physical review. D.Vol. 111(6)
University of East Anglia (GB), Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (IT), Radboud University Nijmegen (NL), Universidad de La Laguna (ES), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (IT), University of Cagliari (IT), University of Potsdam (DE), Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway (IE), University of Hull (GB), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Bielefeld University (DE), Peking University (CN), Université Paris Cité (FR), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (IT), Brera Astronomical Observatory (IT), Arecibo Observatory (PR), University of Manchester (GB), Shanghai Institute for Science of Science (CN), Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (PT), Universidad Antonio Nariño (CO), Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (DE), Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (ES), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (ES), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano Bicocca (IT), Gran Sasso Science Institute (IT), Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari (IT), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste (IT), Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe (IT), Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (DE), Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (IT), Institute of Science and Technology, Imperial College London (GB), University of Milano-Bicocca (IT), University of Birmingham (GB), Ruhr University Bochum (DE), Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (NL)
National Science Foundation, Università degli Studi di Milano, Royal Society, University of East Anglia, European Commission, Wolfson Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Generalitat de Catalunya, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Universität Bielefeld, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Peking University, Regione Autonoma della Sardegna, Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation, ASTRON, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, Observatoire de Paris, Université de Recherche Paris Sciences et Lettres, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Science and Technology Facilities Council, European Research Council, Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Institut national des sciences de l'Univers, Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules, Institut de physique, H2020 European Research Council, H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
9.35
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