Detecting ultralight dark matter in the Galactic Center with pulsars around Sgr A*

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Yu, Jiang-Chuan, Cao, Yan, Hu, Zexin, Shao, Lijing
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Yu, Jiang-Chuan
Cao, Yan
Hu, Zexin
Shao, Lijing
author_facet Yu, Jiang-Chuan
Cao, Yan
Hu, Zexin
Shao, Lijing
contents Ultralight dark matter (ULDM) model is a leading dark matter candidate that arises naturally in extensions of the Standard Model. In the Galactic Center, ULDM manifests as dense hydrogen-like boson clouds or self-gravitating soliton cores. We present the first study of the gravitational effects of these ULDM structures on pulsar orbits around Sgr A*, using pulsar timing as a precision dynamical probe, based on a comprehensive and practical framework that includes various kinds of black hole and orbital parameters. Our analysis shows that long-term pulsar monitoring -- one of the key objectives of future SKA science -- could detect a boson cloud with a total mass as low as $O(M_\odot)$ for boson mass $m \sim 10^{-18}\,\mathrm{eV}$, and probe a wide range of soliton core masses in the lower-mass regime, assuming a conservative timing precision of $σ_{\mathrm{TOA}}=1\,\mathrm{ms}$.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_22573
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Detecting ultralight dark matter in the Galactic Center with pulsars around Sgr A*
Yu, Jiang-Chuan
Cao, Yan
Hu, Zexin
Shao, Lijing
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Ultralight dark matter (ULDM) model is a leading dark matter candidate that arises naturally in extensions of the Standard Model. In the Galactic Center, ULDM manifests as dense hydrogen-like boson clouds or self-gravitating soliton cores. We present the first study of the gravitational effects of these ULDM structures on pulsar orbits around Sgr A*, using pulsar timing as a precision dynamical probe, based on a comprehensive and practical framework that includes various kinds of black hole and orbital parameters. Our analysis shows that long-term pulsar monitoring -- one of the key objectives of future SKA science -- could detect a boson cloud with a total mass as low as $O(M_\odot)$ for boson mass $m \sim 10^{-18}\,\mathrm{eV}$, and probe a wide range of soliton core masses in the lower-mass regime, assuming a conservative timing precision of $σ_{\mathrm{TOA}}=1\,\mathrm{ms}$.
title Detecting ultralight dark matter in the Galactic Center with pulsars around Sgr A*
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.22573