Boson Star from Repulsive Light Scalars and Gravitational Waves

Abstract

We study properties of boson stars consisting of ultra-light scalar dark matter with repulsive self-interactions. We investigate the origin of the maximum mass of spherically symmetric stable stars which emerges only when solving the full equations of motion in curved space-time, but not when solving the approximated Schr\"odinger-Newton equations. When the repulsion is weak, the backreaction of the curvature on the scalars acts as an additional source of attraction and can overcome the repulsion, resulting in a maximum star mass and compactness. We also point out that the potential in a UV completed particle physics model of light scalar dark matter is generally more complicated than the widely used $\phi^4$ interaction. Additional interactions beyond $\phi^4$ in the potential can dramatically change the properties of boson stars as well as modify the prospect of LIGO gravitational wave detection for binary mergers of boson stars.