RII Track-4: Statistically Significant Signatures of Dark Matter from Astrophysical Observations (WoU-MMA)

Dark matter composes 85% of the matter in the universe. Understanding the properties of this unknown matter sets the stage for many important advances for humankind as well as understanding the universe. Dark matter gathers significantly around objects with strong gravitational fields, i.e. black holes and very massive stars.

Recent advances in gravitational wave and radio astronomy have allowed unprecedented glimpses into black holes and very massive stars. The proposed project computes the interactions between dark matter, gravitational and electromagnetic waves in the environment surrounding black holes and very massive stars. These calculations, combined with state-of-the-art numerical simulations, are designed to provide a variety of telltale signatures of dark matter.

The PI and a trainee will travel to the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) to implement these numerical simulations. The resulting work product seeks to turn black holes and very massive stars into dark matter detectors. Broader impacts of this work include engaging local high-school students and the greater New Hampshire-Vermont community to understand developments in dark matter (particle physics) research.

In addition, the PI will also promote the inclusion of underrepresented groups in STEM fields, e.g., through giving lectures at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Finally, the trainee supported by this award will be exposed to advanced general relativity, quantum field theory, and numerical techniques used to simulate the environments surrounding black holes and compact stars.

Dark matter congregates significantly around objects with large gravitational fields such as black holes and compact stars. For this project, the PI considers electromagnetic and gravitational wave signatures of bosonic (axion) dark matter from these compact objects. Using effective field theory techniques, the PI includes the most important interactions in order to properly understand the evolution of this dark matter.

The large gravitational fields introduce a new scale, the Schwarzschild radius, which alters the dark matter oscillations into gravitational and electromagnetic waves. This effect is analogous to the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect for neutrinos. These alterations affect both superradiant and non-superradiant enhanced processes.

The PI and a trainee will travel to the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) to vet the new, unique dark matter signatures with well-vetted numerical simulations of the astrophysical backgrounds in order to determine their efficacy in producing statistically significant probes of dark matter. By leveraging multi-wavelength astronomy, very-long-baseline interferometry (such as the Event Horizon Telescope) as well as the current (and near future) capabilities of gravitational wave astronomy, the fellowship goal is to generate viable search strategies to identify regions of parameter space for bosonic (axion) dark matter.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.