Constraining ultralight axions with galaxy surveys

Ultralight axions and other bosons are dark matter candidates present in many high energy physics theories beyond the Standard Model. In particular, the string axiverse postulates the existence of up to O (100) light scalar bosons constituting the dark sector. We test the validity of the effective field theory of large-scale structure approach to mixed ultralight axion dark matter by making our own mock galaxy catalogs and find an anisotropic ultralight axion signature in the galaxy quadrupole. We use the Fourier-space galaxy clustering statistics from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) and obtain upper bounds for the axion relic density Omega(a)h(2) < 0.004 for axions of mass 10(-31) eV <= m(a) <= 10(-26) eV at 95% confidence. We also improve existing constraints by a factor of over 4.5 and 2.1 for axion masses of 10-25 eV and 10-32 eV compared to CMB alone. To improve the convergence speed of our analysis, we develop an augmented interpolation scheme allowing a fast computation of the axion contribution to the linear matter power spectrum. This method leads to a 70% reduction of the computational cost for the full Monte Carlo Markov chains analysis.

Automated summary

This study tests the effective field theory approach to mixed ultralight axion dark matter using mock galaxy catalogs and detects an anisotropic signature of ultralight axions in the galaxy quadrupole. The upper bounds for axion relic density are obtained based on galaxy clustering statistics from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, with improved constraints compared to using only cosmic microwave background data. The computational cost is reduced by 70% through the development of an augmented interpolation scheme.