Towards theory constraints on ultralight dark matter from quantum gravity

TL;DR

This paper explores theoretical constraints on ultralight scalar dark matter couplings to the Standard Model within quantum gravity frameworks, particularly asymptotically safe gravity, suggesting such couplings may vanish.

Contribution

It provides the first theoretical analysis indicating that couplings of ultralight dark matter to gauge fields vanish in asymptotically safe gravity and are not generated perturbatively.

Findings

Couplings vanish in asymptotically safe gravity.

Couplings are not generated in perturbative quantum gravity.

Supports the idea that quantum gravity constrains dark matter interactions.

Abstract

Ultralight scalar dark matter may couple to the Standard Model through dimension-five operators that contain the field-strength tensors of the gauge interactions. Recent progress in nuclear clocks is projected to increase the sensitivity to such couplings by several orders of magnitude. Future experimental constraints may even have Planck-scale sensitivity, calling for a study of such couplings in a framework that includes quantum gravity. We take a first step towards providing the theoretical constraints on such couplings that arise in asymptotically safe gravity. We find evidence that such couplings vanish in asymptotically safe gravity and are also not generated in a perturbative quantum-gravity regime that describes quantum gravity as an effective field theory.