Confronting the dark matter capture rate with a continuous gravitational wave probe of local neutron stars

TL;DR

This paper proposes using continuous gravitational waves from neutron stars to estimate dark matter capture rates, providing new bounds that complement existing direct detection and astrophysical methods.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to estimate dark matter capture rates using gravitational wave signals from neutron stars, a first in the field.

Findings

Competitive bounds on dark matter capture rates from neutron stars

Comparison with direct detection experiments shows complementary constraints

Demonstrates the potential of gravitational wave observations for dark matter studies

Abstract

Continuous gravitational waves (CGWs) from various astrophysical sources are one of the many future probes of upcoming gravitational wave (GW) search missions. Neutron stars (NSs) with deformity are one of the leading sources of CGW emissions. In this work, for the first time, a novel attempt to estimate the dark matter (DM) capture rate is performed using CGW as the probe to the local NS population. Competitive bounds on DM capture from the local NS population are reported when compared with DM direct search experiments and other astrophysical observations.