Detecting ultralight axion dark matter wind with laser interferometers

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential of laser interferometers to detect ultralight axion dark matter by analyzing the oscillating gravitational effects caused by the axion wind, considering resonance effects in modified gravity theories.

Contribution

It introduces a method to detect ultralight axion dark matter using laser interferometers and discusses resonance enhancement in modified gravity theories.

Findings

Detector signals can be induced by axion oscillations.

Resonance effects can amplify the detection signal.

Detection is feasible over a wide axion mass range.

Abstract

The ultralight axion with mass around $10^{-22}$ eV is known as a candidate of dark matter. A peculiar feature of the ultralight axion is oscillating pressure in time, which produces oscillation of gravitational potentials. Since the solar system moves through the dark matter halo at the velocity of about $v \sim 300 \, \text{km} / \text{s} = 10^{-3}$, there exists axion wind, which looks like scalar gravitational waves for us. Hence, there is a chance to detect ultralight axion dark matter with a wide mass range by using laser interferometer detectors. We calculate the detector signal induced by the oscillating pressure of the ultralight axion field, which would be detected by future laser interferometer experiments. We also argue that the detector signal can be enhanced due to the resonance in modified gravity theory explaining the dark energy.