Theory: Direct Detection Prospects for Relativistic Scalar Bursts

by Joshua Eby

Friday 12 May 2023, 15:00 → 16:00 Europe/Berlin

SR2

Ultralight scalar particles, including axions, are being sought in a huge array of direct dark matter search experiments. In this talk, I will discuss how one can use these same experimental searches to discover high-energy bursts of scalar particles which can arise from astrophysical processes. In addition to being a new discovery channel, the burst spectrum can contain complementary information about the underlying scalar dark matter theory. As an illustrative example, I will focus on the case of collapsing boson stars, which are known to explode in bursts of scalar particles in what is known as a bosenova, and I will show how the resulting signals are accessible in current and near-future experiments. Time permitting, I will also briefly discuss ongoing work related to the build-up of these burst particles from high redshift to form a relativistic scalar background.