Abstract
Light (pseudo-)scalar fields are promising candidates to be the dark matter in the Universe. Under certain initial conditions in the early Universe and/or with certain types of self-interactions, they can form compact dark-matter objects such as axion stars or Q-balls. Direct encounters with such objects can be searched for by using a global network of atomic magnetometers. It is shown that for a range of masses and radii not ruled out by existing observations, the terrestrial encounter rate with axion stars or Q-balls can be sufficiently high (at least once per year) for a detection. Furthermore, it is shown that a global network of atomic magnetometers is sufficiently sensitive to pseudoscalar couplings to atomic spins so that a transit through an axion star or Q-ball could be detected over a broad range of unexplored parameter space.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 043002 |
Journal | Physical Review D |
Volume | 97 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 7 2018 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2018 American Physical Society.