Angular correlation and deformed Hellings-Downs curve from spin-2 ultralight dark matter
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
2026-01-14 v2 Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
High Energy Physics - Theory
Abstract
The pulsar timings are sensitive to both the nanohertz gravitational-wave background and the oscillation of ultralight dark matter. The Hellings-Downs angular correlation curve provides a criterion to search for stochastic gravitational-wave backgrounds at nanohertz via pulsar timing arrays. We study the angular correlation of the timing residuals induced by the spin-2 ultralight dark matter, which is different from the usual Hellings-Downs correlation. At a typical frequency, we show that the spin-2 ultralight dark matter can give rise to the deformation of the Hellings-Downs correlation curve induced by the stochastic gravitational wave background.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2402.03984,
title = {Angular correlation and deformed Hellings-Downs curve from spin-2 ultralight dark matter},
author = {Rong-Gen Cai and Jing-Rui Zhang and Yun-Long Zhang},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2402.03984},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
8 pages, 4 figures. v2: matching version published in PRD