Laser Interferometers As Dark Matter Detectors

Laser Interferometers as Dark Matter Detectors
Evan D. Hall,1 Thomas Callister,1 Valery V. Frolov,2 Holger Muller,3 Maxim Pospelov,4, 5 and Rana X Adhikari1
1
arXiv:1605.01103v1 [gr-qc] 3 May 2016
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

2
LIGO Livingston Observatory, Livingston, LA 70754, USA
3
Department of Physics, 366 Le Conte Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
4
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
5
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, ON N2J 2W9, Canada
(Dated: May 5, 2016)
While global cosmological and local galactic abundance of dark matter is well established, its identity, physical size and composition remain a mystery. In this paper, we analyze an important question of dark matter
detectability through its gravitational interaction, using current and next generation gravitational-wave observatories to look for macroscopic (kilogram-scale or larger) objects. Keeping the size of the dark matter objects to
be smaller than the physical dimensions of the detectors, and keeping their mass as free parameters, we derive
the expected event rates. For favorable choice of mass, we find that dark matter interactions could be detected in
space-based detectors such as LISA at a rate of one per ten years. We then assume the existence of an additional
Yukawa force between dark matter and regular matter. By choosing the range of the force to be comparable to
the size of the detectors, we derive the levels of sensitivity to such a new force, which exceeds the sensitivity
of other probes in a wide range of parameters. For sufficiently large Yukawa coupling strength, the rate of dark
matter events can then exceed 10 per year for both ground- and space-based detectors. Thus, gravitational-wave
observatories can make an important contribution to a global effort of searching for non-gravitational interactions of dark matter.
Introduction.There is overwhelming evidence that the

Universe is dominated by dark energy (DE) and dark matter
(DM), which together comprise about 95% of the cosmological critical energy density c c2 ' 5 keV/cm3 [1]. Thus far,
all the evidence comes from the gravitational influences of DE
and DM on regular matter built from the Standard Model (SM)
particles and fields. The concentration of DM is enhanced
around collapsed cosmic structures, such as galaxies and clusters of galaxies, where it exceeds its cosmological average by
several orders of magnitude. In particular, the energy density
of dark matter in the Milky Way close to the location of the solar system has been determined to be about 0.39 GeV/cm3 [2].
The observed DM behavior is consistent with its being cold,
which implies a certain Maxwellian-type velocity distribution,
with an rms velocity of about 270 km/s inside the Milky Way.
This random motion is superimposed on the 220 km/s constant velocity of the Sun relative to galactic center, so that
there is a significant asymmetry in the flux of dark matter for
an observer on earth.
Since all information on DM comes from its gravitational
interactions, its composition and properties remain unknown.
Among the most important questions that do not have any direct observational answers are the following:
What is the relation of DM to the visible matter of the
SM? Is there any new interaction that supplements gravity and acts between DM and regular atoms?
Is DM elementary or composite?
What is the physical size of the DM objects and their
mass?
In many particle physics models, DM is elementary and can
be represented either by massive particles (e.g., related to the
lightest supersymmetric partners of SM particles), or by light
fields (e.g. QCD axions). Extensive research aimed at the direct detection of DM has advanced the sensitivity to elementary DM interacting with atoms, nuclei and electromagnetic
fields. It has produced bounds on e.g. weak-scale DM interacting with nuclei [3], but so far has not led to any answers
to the above questions. While the next generation of such experimental efforts may bring positive results, it is important to
widen the DM search program using the multi-probe approach
with sensitive instruments.
In this Letter, we investigate the use of gravitational-wave
observatories as detectors of dark matter via gravitational interaction of DM objects with the detectors test masses. The
gravitational interaction is the only guaranteed interaction between DM and SM, and therefore it is important to investigate
the prospects of a detection based only on gravitational interaction. Moreover, we will study detection based on possible
additional interactions modeled as a Yukawa potential between dark matter and the particles of the standard model.
The model of macroscopic DM.The discussion of
macroscopic-size dark matter was traditionally oriented towards the massive compact halo objets (MACHOs) and primordial black holes. The range of suggested masses for these
candidates starts from rather large values, M > 1014 g [4, 5].
This mass range influenced early discussions on a possible use
of space-based gravitational-wave inteferometers in search for
dark matter [6, 7]. For primoridal black holes, the range below
1014 g is disfavored due to Hawking evaporation [8] shortening the lifetime below the age of the Universe. Going away
from the black hole candidates, one faces a much broader
spectrum of macroscopically sized DM candidates [912]. In
particular, if sufficiently complex, dark sectors can possess
stable topological monopoles [13, 14], or non-topological defects, such as Q-balls [15]. Given the unknown properties of
the dark sector, the mass range for such DM objects can be al-
2
most arbitrary, and their required cosmological abundance can
be acheived via the so-called KibbleZurek mechanisms [16].
Microscopic particle-type DM can form objects much smaller
than galactic size, also known as clumps. The size and mass
density of such objects may widely differ depending on DM
properties, and the cosmological history.
For the purpose of this study, we will assume that DM consists of macroscopic objects of a certain transverse radius rDM
and mass MDM . The mass MDM determines the average distance between the DM objects, and the frequency of encounters. Introducing the number density of galactic DM objects,
nDM L3 , we obtain the following relation between the mass
and the characteristic distance between the DM objects,
DM = MDM nDM =
MDM
L
' 1.2
1 kg
104 km
!1/3
(1)
where DM is DM mass density, DM c2 ' 0.39 GeV/cm3 .

This distance can be directly related to the effective flux of
DM, and the frequency of close encounters. For a fiducial
choice of MDM of 1 kg, the effective flux of DM is DM
nDM vDM 3 1010 km2 s1 , and one can expect one DM
object per year to pass the detector with an impact parameter
of 10 km. This is commensurate with the actual physical size
of the interferometer arms of existing graviational-wave detectors such as LIGO [17], and if the interaction between the
DM objects and atoms, which the gravitating masses of LIGO
are made of, is strong enough, such passage could in principle be detected. The generalization to other types of defects
(strings and/or domain walls) is also possible [9, 18].
What kind of interaction could one expect to have between
the DM and SM? Besides purely gravitational interaction, the
number of possibilities is quite large [10]. In this Letter we
will consider additional Yukawa interaction introduced by the
exchange of a light scalar, vector or tensor particle with mass
m 1 (~/c). Combining Yukawa and gravitational interactions, we write the non-relativistic potential between the
two compact objects, separated at distance r (r > rDM ), as
follows:

GN
Vi j = Mi M j
1 + (1) s i j exp[r/]
(2)
r
where i, j = SM,DM.
This equation assumes that the potential scales with the mass
of the object (e.g. T coupling in the scalar case), and the
corresponding couplings are parametrized in units of the standard gravitational coupling by the dimensionless numbers SM
and DM . (1) s is equal to +1 for scalar and tensor exchange,
and 1 for vector exchange. Moreover, we shall assume that
the range of the force and the physical size of the detectors
(LIGO) are much larger than the size of the DM objects, but
smaller than the average distance between them,
rDM lLIGO , L,
which significantly simplifies the analysis.
(3)
Extensive tests of the gravitational force, VSM-SM , have set

stringent constraints on SM as a function of [19]. Thus, for
1 km, |SM | < 103 . At the same time, the coupling of
this Yukawa force to DM can be many orders of magnitude
stronger. The main constraint on DM comes from the influence of DM self-interaction on structure formation [20] and on
the dynamics of cluster collisions [21]. Since the range of the
force is assumed to be less than L, only pair-wise collisions
are important. The momentum-exchange cross section can be
easily calculated with the use of the inequalities in Eq. (3). To
logarithmic accuracy it is given by
DM-DM = 16
2
G2N MDM
4DM
v4DM
log
"
rDM
(4)
At vDM 103 c, there is a typical constraint on the cross section, DM-DM /MDM . 1cm2 /g, which translates to the following limit on the value of the DM Yukawa coupling,
1 kg
|DM | . 5 10
MDM
9
!1/4
(5)
In deriving this limit, we set the value of the logarithm to 5.

It is important to emphasize that saturating this bound may
alleviate some problems of cold DM scenario that emerge
when observations are compared to numerical simulations.
Self-interaction helps to cure the problem of cold DM overlydense central regions of dwarf galaxies predicted in simulations [22], as DM self-scattering reduces the DM densities in
the central regions relative to non-interacting case (see e.g.
[23]). Therefore, |DM | 1 represents a phenomenologically
motivated choice. Taking two limits on i together, one can
conclude that at r < the strength of DM-SM interaction,
|DM SM |, can exceed gravity by up to seven orders of magnitude. One microscopic realization of |DM | |SM | possibility
would be a new scalar force with reasonably strong coupling
to DM, and reduced coupling to the SM mediated e.g. via the
Higgs portal [24].
Macroscopic DM detection.We perform several Monte
Carlo simulations in order to characterize the rate of discrete
DM interaction events with laser interferometers. We first
consider the case of a single Advanced LIGO detector [25]
operating at full sensitivity. A worldwide network of such
kilometer-scale laser interferometers will come into operation during the next several years [2527]. Future terrestrial [28, 29] and space-based detectors [30] have also been
planned. We therefore also consider the case of a single LISAtype detector.
We model the distribution of DM in the galaxy as objects
of mass M, with a uniform density in the solar system of
DM = (0.39 GeV/c2 )/cm3 , and a randomly directed velocity v whose magnitude is distributed according to a combination of the galaxy-frame DM velocity (270 km/s rms) and the
speed of the solar system through the galaxy (220 km/s). As
the DM object (or undisrupted clump of DM) passes by the
detector, it produces an acceleration a(k) (t) of the detectors
3
103
102
Cumulative rate [yr1 ]
101
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
aLIGO, 0.1 kg
aLIGO, 10 kg
aLIGO, 1000 kg
LISA, 109 kg
LISA, 1011 kg
LISA, 1013 kg
106 105 104 103 102 101 100 101 102 103
SNR
FIG. 1. (color online). Cumulative event rate for gravitational interactions in a single Advanced LIGO detector and in a single LISA
detector.
kth test mass (four in the case of LIGO, conventionally labeled as IX, IY, EX, and EY). The acceleration is determined
by the gradient of Eq. (2) with i = SM and j = DM. The
detectors GW channel reads out the differential acceleration

(EY)

a(t) = a(EX)
(t)a(IX)
(t)a(IY)
x
x (t) ay
y (t) [31]. We assume
that the signal of this event can be optimally recovered from
the detectors time stream using matched filtering; i.e., the
h R
i1/2
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is % = 4 0 df |a( f )|2 /S nn ( f ) ,
where a( f ) is the Fourier transform of a(t) and S nn ( f ) is the
power spectral density (PSD) of the detectors acceleration
noise n(t) [32].
In addition to simulating several DM masses for each detector, we also vary the coupling g = SM DM and the screening
, as defined in Eq. (2). The Newtonian case (g = 0) has already been analyzed analytically in the context of primordial
black hole detection with LISA [6], in the limits b ` (the
close-approach limit) and b ` (the tidal limit), in both
cases assuming a flat detector noise PSD and normal incidence
of the masses to the detector plane.
We then compute the cumulative rate function (%), which
gives the number of events per year with SNR above %. In
Fig. 1 we plot the detector interaction rates assuming a Newtonian coupling. In Figs. 2 and 3 we show how is enhanced
if the SMDM interaction follows a Yukawa force law. The
ability of LIGO and LISA to place constraints on g and depends on the mass of DM object; in both cases, the smallest
masses considered (0.1 kg for LIGO, 109 kg for LISA) allow
for the most sensitivity to {g, } parameter space. If we choose
SM close to the existing bounds, and DM to saturate (5), then
the rate of loud encounters can exceed O(10) per year.
To confidently claim detection, a DM signal must be distinguished from glitches and other detector artifacts. One strategy is to look for DM signals using two (nearly) co-located
detectors. The Advanced LIGO detectors as currently built are
not co-located, though the Hanford facility did house two colocated Initial LIGO detectors. Some of the plans for LISAlike space missions involve three co-located detectors [33].
Stochastic DM detection.In addition to single, loud DM
events, we alternatively consider the case of a stochastic DM
background due to a population of lighter, individually unresolvable DM objects. Cross-correlating the outputs of GW
detectors placed at remote points on the earth, reduces vastly
the event rate. In order to place best-case limits on our ability to detect such a signal, we consider only the case of two
identical, colocated, and coaligned detectors whose noise is
stationary, Gaussian, and independent.
Assuming the DM background a(t) is independent of, and
much weaker than, the detector noises n1 (t) and n2 (t), the
h R
i1/2
optimal SNR is 2T 0 df S aa ( f )2 /S nn ( f )2 , where S aa ( f )
is the PSD of a, T is the observing time, and we assume
S n1 n1 = S n2 n2 S nn . We find that a Newtonian DM background is undetectable after T = 5 years for the DM masses
considered: for LIGO, masses of 109 107 kg result in optimal SNRs of 0.35 1017 ; for LISA, masses of 106 , 107 ,
and 108 kg result in optimal SNRs of 9 107 , 4 106 ,
and 1.4 104 , respectively. However, for g 1, we have
S aa |g|2 , and hence the SNR increases with |g|2 . Therefore,
LISA could detect a stochastic background from Yukawa interaction of DM clumps with mass 108 kg provided |g| & 102 ,
or clumps with mass 106 kg provided |g| & 103 .
Acknowledgements.The work of MP is supported in part
by NSERC, Canada, and research at the Perimeter Institute
is supported in part by the Government of Canada through
NSERC and by the Province of Ontario through MEDT. EDH,
TC, VVF, and RXA are supported in part by the NSF under
award PHY-0757058.
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Laser Interferometers as Dark Matter Detectors

arXiv:1605.01103v1 [gr-qc] 3 May 2016

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Introduction.There is overwhelming evidence that the

where DM is DM mass density, DM c2 ' 0.39 GeV/cm3 .

Extensive tests of the gravitational force, VSM-SM , have set

In deriving this limit, we set the value of the logarithm to 5.

Cumulative rate [yr1 ]

[1] K. Olive et al. (Particle Data Group), Chin.Phys. C38, 090001

Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc. 423, 3740 (2012), arXiv:1201.5892

Wave Detectors (World Scientific, 1994).

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