Correlated signals of ultralight scalar dark matter in pulsar timing

Abstract

Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are sensitive to ultralight dark matter (ULDM) in the $10^{-24}$-$10^{-20}\,\mathrm{eV}$ mass range, with existing datasets already probing otherwise open parameter space and future PTAs promising substantial improvements in reach. Thus far, however, PTA searches for ULDM have typically been formulated using limiting descriptions. Analyses are performed in either the fully correlated limit, in which the local ULDM amplitude is shared across the array, or the fully uncorrelated limit, in which each pulsar has an independent local amplitude. Because the transition between these regimes occurs within the PTA-sensitive mass range, projected sensitivities and data-derived constraints can depend on which limiting description is assumed. For the first time, we develop a self-consistent analysis that treats the ULDM field as a Gaussian random field with finite spatial correlations, allowing the amplitude prior used in PTA signal models to interpolate continuously between the fully correlated and fully uncorrelated limits. We apply the framework to both linearly and quadratically coupled scalar ULDM, the latter including the universal gravitational signal sourced by the oscillating ULDM pressure. Pulsar-distance uncertainties are incorporated through an augmented latent-field prior, and the resulting distance-marginalized latent-amplitude distribution is represented with a normalizing-flow surrogate. We validate the method on mock PTA datasets, including blinded signal injection tests.