Prof. Ling Sun (ANU)

Probing ultralight bosons with black holes and gravitational waves

Ultralight boson particles, if they exist as theorized, could form clouds around rapidly rotating black holes through the phenomenon called superradiance. Such clouds are expected to emit long-lasting, quasimonochromatic gravitational waves that LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA could detect. Searching for gravitational waves emitted by boson clouds around black holes provides a new cosmic approach to interrogating the existence of ultralight bosons that are difficult to probe with conventional lab experiments. In this talk, I will provide a theoretical overview of the phenomenon, describe the gravitational wave signatures, and discuss the astrophysical sources. I will briefly explain the constraints obtained from a search targeting a known galactic black hole, Cygnus X-1, and show future search prospects targeting other sources. [link]

Place: Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85073202211?pwd=N2ZURDl0RDZ3R2gvVE45RTNKOGdVZz09 Meeting ID: 850 7320 2211 Passcode: 529158

Time: Thursday, April 13, 2023 - 3:30PM to Thursday, April 13, 2023 - 4:30PM