Project:	Pulsar Spin-Down Anomalies for Dark-Matter Searches
Discipline:	Physics
Mentor:	Susan Gardner, Professor of Physics, (PMA), susan.gardner@uky.edu, Phone: 859-257-4391
Mentor URL:	https://pa.as.uky.edu/users/sgard2  (opens in new window)
Background:	NOTE: This project is being offered by a Caltech alum and is open only to Caltech students. The project will be conducted at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. Pulsars are well-known for the stability of their radio emission properties, with deviations pointing to different sorts of fundamental physics tests. For example, in pulsar binaries, we can (famously!) use the pulsar as a very precise clock to infer changes in the binary orbital period, which speaks (indirectly) to the existence of continuous gravitational waves. This sort of test can also limit the rate of exotic neutron decay processes and other possibilities.
Description:	Here we use observed pulsar spin-down anomalies to explore new ways of probing dark matter. Particularly, we wish to investigate whether any such anomalies can be interpreted in terms of the presence of a dark (black hole) companion, and thus to the existence of a pulsar-black hole binary. Mergers of such have been detected gravitationally, but such pre-merger systems have as yet to be discovered. This is a prospect of keen interest because the pulsar's "clock" may ultimately be able to probe the possibility of a black-hole superradiance predicated by the existence of ultra-light dark matter. In this project we consider the possible mechanisms of pulsar spin-down theoretically to see how sharply a dark companion could be identified and finally whether any of the observed spin-down anomalies can fit this picture.
References:	https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/932/1/012002/pdf https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.13377 https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.03500 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2501.03409 https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.11646
Student Requirements:	Some familiarity with quantum and computational physics would be extremely helpful, and an ability to program (in python or another language) would be essential.
Programs:	This AO can be done under the following programs:   Program    Available To        SURF    Caltech students only  Click on a program name for program info and application requirements.