Searching for topological dark matter in LIGO data

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Heisenberg, Lavinia, Maibach, David, Veske, Doğa
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Heisenberg, Lavinia
Maibach, David
Veske, Doğa
author_facet Heisenberg, Lavinia
Maibach, David
Veske, Doğa
contents Gravitational-wave interferometers have been recently proposed as a promising probe in searches for dark matter. These highly sensitive instruments are potentially able to detect the interactions of dark matter with the detector's hardware. In this work, we explore the possibilities of discovering topological dark matter with the LIGO detectors. We analyze domain walls consisting of dark matter passing through the Earth, leaving traces in multiple detectors simultaneously. Considering dark matter interactions with light in the interferometer, and with the beam splitter, we perform the first analysis of topological dark matter with gravitational-wave strain data. We examine whether astrophysically unexpected triggers could be explained by domain-wall passages. We find that all of the binary black hole mergers we analyze favor the binary black hole merger hypothesis rather than the domain-wall hypothesis, with the closest being GW190521. Moreover, we find that some topological dark matter signals can be caught by binary black hole searches. Finally, we find that special types of glitches in the measurement data can inevitably limit the dark matter searches for certain parameters. These results are expected to guide future searches and analyses.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2309_05093
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Searching for topological dark matter in LIGO data
Heisenberg, Lavinia
Maibach, David
Veske, Doğa
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
High Energy Physics - Theory
Gravitational-wave interferometers have been recently proposed as a promising probe in searches for dark matter. These highly sensitive instruments are potentially able to detect the interactions of dark matter with the detector's hardware. In this work, we explore the possibilities of discovering topological dark matter with the LIGO detectors. We analyze domain walls consisting of dark matter passing through the Earth, leaving traces in multiple detectors simultaneously. Considering dark matter interactions with light in the interferometer, and with the beam splitter, we perform the first analysis of topological dark matter with gravitational-wave strain data. We examine whether astrophysically unexpected triggers could be explained by domain-wall passages. We find that all of the binary black hole mergers we analyze favor the binary black hole merger hypothesis rather than the domain-wall hypothesis, with the closest being GW190521. Moreover, we find that some topological dark matter signals can be caught by binary black hole searches. Finally, we find that special types of glitches in the measurement data can inevitably limit the dark matter searches for certain parameters. These results are expected to guide future searches and analyses.
title Searching for topological dark matter in LIGO data
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
High Energy Physics - Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.05093