Gravitational wave probes on self-interacting dark matter surrounding an intermediate mass black hole

TL;DR

This paper explores how self-interacting dark matter around intermediate mass black holes affects gravitational wave signals, proposing that future detectors like LISA could detect these effects and constrain dark matter properties.

Contribution

It introduces the impact of self-interacting scalar dark matter on gravitational waveforms and estimates the parameter space detectable by upcoming gravitational wave experiments.

Findings

Dark matter overdensities cause detectable dephasing in gravitational waves.

Self-interacting dark matter forms a soliton core around black holes.

Future experiments can constrain SIDM parameters through waveform analysis.

Abstract

The presence of dark matter overdensities surrounding a black hole can influence the evolution of a binary system. The gravitational wave signals emitted by a black hole binary offer a promising means to probe the dark matter environments near a black hole. The dense region of dark matter can lead to the dephasing of gravitational waveforms, which can be detected by upcoming experiments such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). The dark matter density profile around the black hole can vary for different dark matter models. Our study specifically investigates the impact of the ultralight self-interacting scalar dark matter (SIDM) on the gravitational wave signals emitted by black hole binaries. A distinctive characteristic of SIDM surrounding a black hole, as opposed to collisionless dark matter, is the formation of a soliton core. We perform a Fisher matrix analysis to estimate the size of the soliton and the corresponding SIDM parameter space that future LISA-like gravitational wave experiments can explore.