Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: We conduct the first-ever pulsar polarization array (PPA) analysis to detect the ultralight axionlike dark matter (ALDM) using the polarization data of 22 millisecond pulsars from the third data release of Parkes pulsar timing array. As one of the major dark matter candidates, the ultralight ALDM exhibits a pronounced wave nature on astronomical scales and offers a promising solution to small-scale structure issues within local galaxies. While the linearly polarized pulsar light travels through the ALDM galactic halo, its position angle (PA) can be subject to an oscillation induced by the ALDM Chern-Simons coupling with electromagnetic field. The PPA is thus especially suited for detecting the ultralight ALDM by correlating polarization data across the arrayed pulsars. To accomplish this task, we develop an advanced Bayesian analysis framework that allows us to construct pulsar PA residual time series, model noise contributions properly and search for pulsar cross-correlations. We find that for an ALDM density of ρ_{0}=0.4 GeV/cm^{3}, the Parkes PPA offers the best global limits on the ALDM Chern-Simons coupling, namely ≲10^{-13.5}-10^{-12.2} GeV^{-1}, for the mass range of 10^{-22}-10^{-21} eV. The crucial role of pulsar cross-correlation in recognizing the nature of the derived limits is also highlighted.
Source: Physical Review Letters
DOI: 10.1103/mptv-3x6g
Authors: Xiao Xue, Shi Dai, Hoang Nhan Luu, Tao Liu, Jing Ren, Jing Shu, Yue Zhao, Andrew Zic, N. D. Ramesh Bhat, Zu-Cheng Chen, Yi Feng, George Hobbs, Agastya Kapur, Richard N. Manchester, Rami Mandow, Saurav Mishra, Daniel J. Reardon, Christopher J. Russell, Ryan M. Shannon, Shuangqiang Wang, Lei Zhang, Songbo Zhang, Xingjiang Zhu
Institutions: Universität Hamburg, Institute for High Energy Physics, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Australia Telescope National Facility, Donostia International Physics Center, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Peking University, Institute of High Energy Physics, Curtin University, Hunan Normal University, Zhejiang Lab, Macquarie University, Swinburne University of Technology, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, CSIRO Scientific Computing, Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, National Astronomical Observatories, Purple Mountain Observatory, Beijing Normal University
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: U.S. Department of Energy, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Centres de Recerca de Catalunya, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Generalitat de Catalunya, Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee, Peking University, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Key Research Program of Frontier Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, NextGenerationEU
OpenAlex ID: W4417207589