APEC Seminar (Astronomy - Particle Physics - Experimental Physics - Cosmology)

Speaker: Kimberly Boddy (The University of Texas at Austin)
Title: Cosmological Constraints on Non-Minimally Coupled Ultralight Dark Matter
Date (JST): Wed, Mar 18, 2026, 13:30 - 15:00
Place: Seminar Room A
Abstract:

The presence of ultralight dark matter in the early Universe suppresses the formation of small-scale structure due to its classical wave-like nature. Moreover, if it couples to the Standard Model, it can induce a variation of fundamental constants. In this talk, I will discuss the cosmological impact of an ultralight dark matter field with an effective quadratic coupling to the Standard Model. I will present CMB constraints on variations of the fine structure constant and the mass of the electron for a wide range of dark matter masses, associated with the oscillations occurring around BBN and the formation of the CMB. I will also present constraints on local variations from pulsar timing data.