Solar System Experiments in the Search for Dark Energy and Dark Matter
Abstract
We reassess the realistic discovery reach of Solar-System experiments for dark energy (DE) and dark matter (DM), making explicit the bridge from cosmology-level linear responses to local, screened residuals. In scalar-tensor frameworks with a universal conformal coupling and chameleon/Vainshtein screening, we map cosmological responses inferred by DESI and \emph{Euclid} to thin-shell or Vainshtein residuals in deep Solar potentials . We emphasize a two-branch strategy. In a detection-first branch, a verified local anomaly -- an Einstein equivalence principle (EEP) violation, a Shapiro-delay signal with , an AU-scale Yukawa tail, or a ultralight DM (ULDM) line in clocks/atom interferometers in space (AIS) -- triggers a joint refit of cosmology and Solar-System data under a common microphysical parameterization . In a guardrail branch, Solar-System tests enforce constraints (EEP; PPN parameters ; and ) and close unscreened or weakly screened corners indicated by cosmology. We forecast, per conjunction, (Ka-/X-band or optical Shapiro), (drag-free AIS), (sub-mm-class LLR), a uniform ~2x tightening of AU-scale Yukawa/DM-density bounds, and improved ULDM-coupling reach from clocks. For a conformal benchmark, implies and a Sun thin shell at ; Vainshtein screening at 1 AU yields , naturally below near-term reach. We recommend a cost-effective guardrail+discovery portfolio with explicit triggers for escalation to dedicated missions.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2509.05910,
title = {Solar System Experiments in the Search for Dark Energy and Dark Matter},
author = {Slava G. Turyshev},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.05910},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
32 pages, 4 figures, 12 tables