Related papers: Exploring the String Axiverse with Precision Black…
Black hole superradiance is a powerful probe of ultralight axions. If nature contains a boson with a mass of order $10^{-12}\,$eV, $\textit{mere vacuum fluctuations}$ will lead to its efficient production around spinning stellar mass black…
In this study, we examine the phenomenon of photon axion conversion occurring in the spacetime surrounding a black hole. Specifically, we focus on the potential existence of a magnetic field around the supermassive black hole M87*, which…
Light feebly-coupled bosonic particles can efficiently extract the rotational energy of rapidly spinning black holes on sub-astrophysical timescales via a phenomenon known as black hole superradiance. In the case of light axions, the feeble…
Ultralight axions and other bosons are dark matter candidates present in many high energy physics theories beyond the Standard Model. In particular, the string axiverse postulates the existence of up to $\mathcal{O}(100)$ light scalar…
We analyze the dynamics and observational signatures of axion clouds formed via the superradiant instability around primordial black holes, focusing on the mass range $10^{14}-10^{18}$ kg where the latter may account for all the dark…
An axion cloud surrounding a supermassive black hole can be naturally produced through the superradiance process. Its existence can be examined by the axion induced birefringence effect. It predicts an oscillation of the electric vector…
Ultralight bosons and axion-like particles appear naturally in different scenarios and could solve some long-standing puzzles. Their detection is challenging, and all direct methods hinge on unknown couplings to the Standard Model of…
String theory/M-theory generally predicts that axionic fields with a broad mass spectrum extending below 10^{-10}eV are produced after compactification to four dimensions. These axions/fields provoke a rich variety of cosmophysical…
Spinning black holes can transfer a significant fraction of their energy to ultralight bosonic fields via superradiance, condensing them in a co-rotating structure or "cloud". This mechanism turns black holes into powerful particle…
The physics of black holes can suggest new ways to test the existence of axions. Much work has been done so far to analyse the phenomenon of superradiance associated with axions in the ergoregion surrounding rotating black holes. In this…
New particles coupled to the Standard Model can equilibrate in stellar cores if they are sufficiently heavy and strongly coupled. In this work, we investigate the astrophysical consequences of such a scenario for massive stars by…
Black hole superradiance, which only relies on gravitational interactions, can provide a powerful probe of the existence of ultralight bosons that are weakly coupled to ordinary matter. However, as a boson cloud grows through superradiance,…
With high spatial resolution, polarimetric imaging of a supermassive black hole, like M87$^\star$ or Sgr A$^\star$, by the Event Horizon Telescope can be used to probe the existence of ultralight bosonic particles, such as axions. Such…
Black holes can amplify incoming bosonic waves via rotational superradiance, inducing bound states of ultralight bosons around them. This phenomenon has the potential to confine the parameter spaces of new bosons. Axions and axion-like…
The mass and the spin of accreting and jetted black holes, at the center of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs), can be probed by analyzing their electromagnetic spectra. For this purpose, we use the Spin-Modified Fundamental Plane of black hole…
Axion dark matter or any ultralight bosonic dark matter can go through Bose-Einstein condensation due to the large phase density, leading to the formation of axion stars or solitons in dark matter halo centers. The formation rate is…
Ultralight bosons can form clouds around rotating black holes if their Compton wavelength is comparable to the black hole size. The boson cloud spins down the black hole through a process called superradiance, lowering the black hole spin…
The superradiant instability can lead to the generation of extremely dense axion clouds around rotating black holes. We show that, despite the long lifetime of the QCD axion with respect to spontaneous decay into photon pairs, stimulated…
Axions, grand unification, and string theory are each compelling extensions of the Standard Model. We show that combining these frameworks imposes strong constraints on the QCD axion mass. Using unitarity arguments and explicit string…
We study early and late time signatures of both QCD axion strings and hyperlight axion strings (axiverse strings). We focus on charge deposition onto axion strings from electromagnetic fields and subsequent novel neutralizing mechanisms due…