arXiv subjects

Yue-Hui Yao

Publications and source records attributed to Yue-Hui Yao.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Distinguishing Monochromatic Signals in LISA and Taiji: Ultralight Dark Matter versus Gravitational Waves

Ultralight dark matter (ULDM) is an attractive candidate for cold dark matter, one of the main mysterious components of the Universe. Recent studies suggest that gravitational-wave (GW) laser interferometers can also detect bosonic ULDM fields, which would produce monochromatic signals resembling those from gravitational waves (GWs). Distinguishing between these potential origins therefore would be essential. In this work, we develop a method to address this challenge for space-based GW interferometers (such as LISA and Taiji) by utilizing the null-response channel (NRC) in interferometric combinations, a channel constructed to have zero response to a specific type of source from a given direction. We find that while the GW NRC remains blind to GWs from a specific direction, it still responds to ULDM, particularly at frequencies above the interferometer's critical frequency. The ULDM NRC exhibits similar behavior. Based on these observations, we outline a test procedure to discriminate between signal origins. Our method provides a new diagnostic tool for analyzing monochromatic signals in space-based GW interferometers, potentially expanding the scientific scope of future missions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Identifying Monochromatic Signals in LISA and Taiji via Spectral Split: Gravitational Waves versus Ultralight Dark Matter

The detection of gravitational waves (GWs) has opened a new window to explore the dark Universe. Ultralight dark matter (ULDM), an attractive candidate for dark matter, might induce monochromatic signals in gravitational-wave (GW) laser interferometers. However it is not clear how such signals are disentangled from the GWs emitted by galactic compact binaries. Here we initiate the investigation on the spectral split of monochromatic signals caused by detector's heliocentric motion in space and show the annual modulation can induce distinct structures in the spectral harmonics for GWs and ULDM, which would enable to clearly identify the nature of the signal. We show the physical parameters can be inferred with high precision using the Fisher matrix formalism. Our results provide a practical algorithm for probing ULDM and broaden the scientific objectives of future GW detectors in space, such as LISA and Taiji.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Prospects for Axion Dark Matter Searches at LISA-like Interferometers

Axion or axionlike particles are one of the leading candidates for dark matter. Because of its tiny coupling with photons, axion dark matter in the background can induce distinct phase velocities for light with different parity, an effect known as birefringence. Here, we propose a modification to the polarization state of the interspacecraft laser link in LISA-like interferometers to make them sensitive to this birefringence effect. We discuss the prospects of using the Sagnac combinations to search for axion dark matter and derive the corresponding sensitivity. With this setup, we show that next-generation laser interferometers in space would have promising sensitivities on the axion-photon coupling with axion mass around $10^{-19} - 10^{-14}~\text{eV}$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Probing Stochastic Ultralight Dark Matter with Space-based Gravitational-Wave Interferometers

Ultralight particles are theoretically well-motivated dark matter candidates. In the vicinity of the solar system, these ultralight particles can be described as a superposition of plane waves, resulting in a stochastic field with sizable amplitude fluctuations on scales determined by the velocity dispersion of dark matter. In this work, we systematically investigate the sensitivity of space-based gravitational-wave interferometers to the stochastic ultralight dark matter (ULDM) field within the frequentist framework. We derive the projected sensitivity of a single detector using the time-delay interferometry. Our results show that space-based gravitational-wave interferometers have the potential to probe unconstrained regions in parameter space and improve the current limit on coupling strengths. Furthermore, we explore the sensitivity of a detector network and investigate the optimal configuration for ULDM detection. We introduce the overlap reduction function for ULDM, which quantifies the degree of correlation between the signals observed by different detectors. We find that the configuration, where the signals observed by two detectors are uncorrelated, is the optimal choice for ULDM detection due to a smaller chance of missing signal. This contrasts with the detection of stochastic gravitational-wave background, where the correlated configuration is preferred. Our results may provide useful insights for potential joint observations involving space-based gravitational-wave detectors like LISA and Taiji, as well as other ULDM detection networks operating in the coherence limit.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Sensitivity of Space-based Gravitational-Wave Interferometers to Ultralight Bosonic Fields and Dark Matter

Ultralight bosonic fields (ULBFs) are predicted by various theories beyond the standard model of particle physics and are viable candidates of cold dark matter. There have been increasing interests to search for the ULBFs in physical and astronomical experiments. In this paper, we investigate the sensitivity of several planned space-based gravitational-wave interferometers to ultralight scalar and vector fields. Using time-delay interferometry (TDI) to suppress the overwhelming laser frequency noise, we derive the averaged transfer functions of different TDI combinations to scalar and vector fields, and estimate the impacts of bosonic field's velocities. We obtain the sensitivity curves for LISA, Taiji and TianQin, and explore their projected constraints on the couplings between ULBFs and standard model particles, illustrating with the ULBFs as dark matter.

gr-qc↗