Production and detection of relic dilatons in string cosmology

TL;DR

This paper discusses how ultra-light dilatons from string cosmology could form a significant part of dark matter and might be detectable by current gravitational wave detectors if their mass is within a certain range.

Contribution

It highlights the potential for detecting a stochastic background of relic dilatons with existing gravitational antennas, linking string cosmology predictions to observable phenomena.

Findings

Ultra-light dilatons could account for dark matter.

Detectable dilaton background may be within current detector sensitivity.

Resonant band of dilaton mass aligns with gravitational antenna capabilities.

Abstract

This paper summarizes the contribution presented at the {\sl IX Marcel Grossmann Meeting} (Rome, July 2000). It is stressed, in particular, that a non-relativistic background of ultra-light dilatons, produced in the context of string cosmology, could represent today a significant fraction of cold dark matter. If the dilaton mass lies within the resonant band of present gravitational antennas, a stochastic dilaton background with a nearly critical density could be visible, in principle, already at the level of sensitivity of the detectors in operation and presently under construction.