A<sc>bstract</sc> Ultralight dark matter (ULDM) particles of massmϕ≲ 1 eV can form boson stars in DM halos. Collapse of boson stars leads to explosive bosenova emission of copious relativistic ULDM particles. In this work, we analyze the sensitivity of terrestrial and space-based experiments to detect such relativistic scalar ULDM particles interacting through quadratic couplings with Standard Model constituents, including electrons, photons, and gluons. We highlight key differences with searches for linear ULDM couplings. Screening of ULDM with quadratic couplings near the surface of the Earth can significantly impact observations in terrestrial experiments, motivating future space-based experiments. We demonstrate excellent ULDM discovery prospects, especially for quantum sensors, which can probe quadratic couplings orders below existing constraints by detecting bosenova events in the ULDM mass range 10−23eV ≲mϕ≲ 10−5eV. We also report updated constraints on quadratic couplings of ULDM in case it comprises cold DM. 
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                            The phenomenology of quadratically coupled ultra light dark matter
                        
                    
    
            A<sc>bstract</sc> We discuss models of ultralight scalar Dark Matter (DM) with linear and quadratic couplings to the Standard Model (SM). In addition to studying the phenomenology of linear and quadratic interactions separately, we examine their interplay. We review the different experiments that can probe such interactions and present the current and expected future bounds on the parameter space. In particular, we discuss the scalar field solution presented in [A. Hees, O. Minazzoli, E. Savalle, Y. V. Stadnik and P. Wolf, Phys.Rev.D 98 (2018) 6, 064051], and extend it to theories that capture both the linear and the quadratic couplings of the Dark Matter (DM) field to the Standard Model (SM). Furthermore, we discuss the theoretical aspects and the corresponding challenges for natural models in which the quadratic interactions are of phenomenological importance. 
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                            - Award ID(s):
- 2016244
- PAR ID:
- 10508173
- Publisher / Repository:
- JHEP
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of High Energy Physics
- Volume:
- 2023
- Issue:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 1029-8479
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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