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Among the prominent candidates for dark matter are bosonic fields with small scalar couplings to the Standard-Model particles. Several techniques are employed to search for such couplings and the current best constraints are derived from…
A dynamical scalar field represents the simplest generalization of a pure Cosmological Constant as a candidate to explain the recent evidence in favour of the accelerated cosmic expansion. We review the dynamical properties of such a…
The last few decades have provided abundant evidence for physics beyond the two standard models of particle physics and cosmology. As is now known, the by far largest part of our universe's matter/energy content lies in the `dark' and…
A simple extension of the Standard Model consists of a scalar field that can potentially constitute the dark matter (DM). Significant attention has been devoted to probing light $\mathcal{O}(\lesssim 10~\rm{eV})$ scalar DM, with a multitude…
In the search for an explanation for the current acceleration of the Universe, scalar fields are the most simple and useful tools to build models of dark energy. This field, however, must in principle couple with the rest of the world and…
In this thesis, we investigate the possibility that dark matter consists of ultra light spin-zero particles with mass $m \sim 10^{-22}\ \text{eV}$. We focus on the role of self-interactions, assuming all other non-gravitational couplings to…
We demonstrate that massive fields, such as dark matter, can directly produce a cosmological evolution of the fundamental constants of Nature. We show that a scalar or pseudoscalar (axion-like) dark matter field $\phi$, which forms a…
We discuss boson stars and black holes with scalar hair in a model where the complex scalar field forming the boson star and the hair on the black hole, respectively, interacts with a real scalar field via a H\'enon-Heiles-type potential.…
The scalar ``cosmon'' field mediating quintessence influences the dynamics of extended objects in the universe. We discuss cosmon lumps -- spherically symmetric solutions for the scalar field coupled to gravity. The two integration…
A weakly coupled scalar field $\Phi$ with a simple exponential potential $V=M_P^4\exp(-\lambda\Phi/M_P)$ where $M_P$ is the reduced Planck mass, and $\lambda > 2$, has an attractor solution in a radiation or matter dominated universe in…
The recent observational evidence for the current cosmic acceleration have stimulated renewed interest in alternative cosmologies, such as scenarios with interaction in the dark sector (dark matter and dark energy). In general, such models…
We consider the possibility that the dark matter is coupled through its mass to a scalar field associated with the dark energy of the Universe. In order for such a field to play a role at the present cosmological distances, it must be…
We study CMB constraints on a model with a cosmological constant and a fraction of dark matter non-minimally coupled to a massless scalar field. In this scenario, there is an extra gravity-like fifth force which can affect the evolution of…
Scalar dark matter can interact with Standard Model (SM) particles, altering the fundamental constants of Nature in the process. Changes in the fundamental constants during and prior to Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) produce changes in the…
We use scalar-field Lagrangians with a non-canonical kinetic term to obtain unified dark matter models where both the dark matter and the dark energy, the latter mimicking a cosmological constant, are described by the scalar field itself.…
Light bosonic fields may suffer an instability around a rotating compact object. This process, known as superradiance, leads to the exponential amplification of the field around a black hole or neutron star, while the spin of the central…
Annihilations of weakly interacting dark matter particles provide an important signature for the possibility of indirect detection of dark matter in galaxy halos. These self-annihilations can be greatly enhanced in the vicinity of a massive…
Scalar fields are widely used in cosmology, in particular to emulate dark energy, for example in quintessence models, or to explain dark matter, in particular within the fuzzy dark matter model. In addition many scenarios involving…
Cosmology offers opportunities to test Dark Matter independently of its interactions with the Standard Model. We study the imprints of long-range forces acting solely in the dark sector on the distribution of galaxies, the so-called Large…
Dark matter self-interactions have important implications for the distributions of dark matter in the Universe, from dwarf galaxies to galaxy clusters. We present benchmark models that illustrate characteristic features of dark matter that…